Competitors pass Toyota Camry as new 2015 model ships to dealers

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Will the new 2015 design put Camry back on top?

As Torque News predicted three months back, the Toyota Camry was outsold by rivals in September. Posting up a respectable 28,507 in units sales for the Month, the Camry is still ahead Honda’s Accord for the year by about 30,000 units, but that gap could well close as the Camry transition continues in October and November. The Camry was down compared to last year’s September sales by about 14% on a daily sales rate. A rare decline in the Camry’s steady march of dominance in the largest car category in the US market.

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Camry Transition Successful
In the company’s monthly sales recap Toyota’s Division Group Vice President and General Manager Bill Fay said “We’ve had a great close out of the current generation Camry.” The 2014.5 model year cars are still in inventory as of this October story. However, Mr. Fay also mentioned that Toyota is now “…shifting from sell-down to launch mode for the new Camry which has been redesigned from bumper-to-bumper and we’ve just begun to ship the new model to dealers.”

Camry Retail Sales Up In September
Although the total sales of Camry went down, the number of private buyers went up by about 15%. Fleet sales make up 10 to 20% of the Camry’s total sales, and they declined in September. The new model focus is on the upscale XSE model which combines the luxury of the XLE with the popular sporty look of the SE. The new marketing campaign is called “One Bold Choice Leads To Another.”

See More: Why you can't find the 2015 Toyota Camry's secret to success in most reviews

The retail sales surge is not surprising given the amazing deals that Toyota is offering buyers to take home one of the last of the 2014.5 models. TrueCar called the Camry the best car deal America last month. The deals are likely about to get even better as dealers try to move the last of the old model years off lots to make room for the new 2015s which look very different form the outgoing cars.