This Looks like the new Toyota Camry,
right? Well, what you're looking at is the new Daihatsu
Altis, but it's basically the Camry that's been rebadged as a Daihatsu.
Now fully owned by Toyota, Daihatsu has been selling
badge-engineered Camrys in Japan since 2000. This time around, Daihatsu is only
selling one version: the 2.5-liter hybrid with two-wheel drive in G spec.
At 3,499,200 yen (US$ 30k), it's priced
the same as the identical Toyota Camry G, which is also only being offered with
the one hybrid powertrain choice in the automakers' home market. Oddly, customers in Japan looking for a cheaper version will have to leave the
Daihatsu showroom and head for one of Toyota's, where the cheaper Camry X is
offered for 3,294,000 yen (US$ 29k), alongside the G model with the leather
package for 4,195,800 yen (US$ 37k).
With the Altis being offered at Daihatsu dealers and
the Camry touching down at the same time at Toyopet, Corolla, and Netz dealers,
Toyota expects to sell about 2,400 of these sedans domestically each month -
which pales in comparison to the 30,000 or so it sells in the US every month.
