Toyota Camry 2026 News

A software error has seen thousands of Toyota Camry examples urgently recalled in Australia. The recall concerns 16,238 Camry units built from the 2024 to 2026 model years, according to a notice from the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications Sports and the Arts.“Due to a software error, the combination meter may fail to illuminate visual and audible warnings including dashboard indicators, the speedometer, turn signals, hazard lamps, seatbelt reminders and key in ignition,” the notice read.“Failure of the combination meter to display critical safety information or warning indicators may increase the risk of an accident, causing injury or death to vehicle occupants and/or other road users.”A spokesperson for Toyota Australia said this issue is part of a global recall, with a small number of reported occurrences in Australia. Toyota Australia will contact owners of affected cars to make an appointment and have the issue rectified free of charge at a dealer. Owners can contact Toyota's recall assist support line for more information.The hybrid-powered Camry is the best-selling sedan in Australia, but it is now facing fresh competition from Chinese rivals the BYD Seal EV and BYD Seal 6 plug-in hybrid.  The Camry has experienced a sales surge in 2026, up nearly 40 per cent compared to July 2025. 

The Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux and RAV4 are typically Australia’s most popular cars in any given month. But what other cars are having a great 2026?We’ve scoured the latest new car sales data to reveal the cars that are off to a storming start in the first five months of this year. For our list we’ve tried to focus on cars that have shown at least double-digit sales growth and have sold at least four-digit volume, so we avoid niche models that are coming off a very low base.We also deliberately avoided focusing on electric vehicles, as we have previously written about the EVs that are enjoying a sales boom in 2026.This is by no means a comprehensive list, and there are several models that are enjoying huge growth from brands such as BYD and Chery, but we’ve limited it to one entry to highlight more brands.Chery Tiggo 7 Pro - up 200.2%Choosing a Chery to put on this list wasn’t an easy task, as the brand is enjoying a bumper year with total sales up more than 84 per cent. The compact Tiggo 4 Pro remains the brand’s sales leader, with more than 11k sold already, but the Tiggo 7 is the clear star performer in terms of growth.With sales tracking more than 200 per cent up, the Tiggo 7 Pro has moved from also-ran to serious contender in the intensely competitive mid-size SUV market. It’s still well-short of the class-leading Toyota RAV4, but only the related Jaecoo J7 (up 427%) and BYD Sealion 7 (up 297%) have experienced more growth so far this year.Kia K4 - up 103.5%Reports of the demise of the hatchback appear to be exaggerated. While small SUVs remain incredibly popular, Kia has demonstrated that the right small car (as the K4 is both a hatch and sedan now) still has plenty of appeal.The South Korean brand has sold 3850 examples of its Cerato-replacement so far in 2026, more than double what it managed this time last year, when the hatch was not available.BYD Seal - up 92%The Atto 3 and Sealion 7 EVs are also enjoying good years, and the new Sealion 5 and 8 plug-in hybrids are both off to a good start, but for this list we’re highlighting the under-rated Seal EV. Under-rated because, like the hatchback, sedans are supposed to be in terminal decline.And yet, BYD has managed to almost double the sales of its mid-size sedan in 2026, with 1885 sold year-to-date. This actually makes it one of the brand’s worst-performing models, only further highlighting just what a successful year BYD is having.For the record, sales of the Sealion 7 are up 297%, the Dolphin is up 115% and the Atto 3 is up 85% (despite being the brand’s longest tenured model). Everything is looking rosy for BYD so far in 2026.Toyota Camry - up 48.3%It’s not exactly the glory days for the Camry, 5221 sales in five months is small fry compared to its past, but it remains an under-rated sales performer for not just the brand. Combined with the Seal, these two very different sedans have almost single-handedly kept the family car segment afloat in recent years.Every other existing model in the mid-size sedan segment is down in 2026, but the Camry remains the automotive equivalent of a cockroach - impossible to ever count out.Hyundai Palisade - up 37.1%This was a borderline inclusion on the list, as Hyundai introduced a new generation Palisade in late 2025 so the comparison to last year’s sales is against the out-going model. But given the huge price jump from the old model, plus a small range, it suggests Hyundai’s biggest SUV is finding an audience.Aside from the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro and GWM Tank 300 (see below) the Palisade is the only other large SUV to meet our criteria, further underlining its strong sales performance so far this year.The addition of a more-affordable Elite trim grade, to go along with the initial flagship Calligraphy, plus the introduction of the more-rugged XRT Pro variant later this year may help the Palisade to continue its momentum.GWM Tank 300 - up 26.9%As mentioned above, the Tank 300 is another standout performer in the large SUV segment. The Chinese brand’s off-road capable offering has grown in recent times to include a diesel and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) alternative for buyers, which has clearly helped to expand its appeal.The relative struggles of the bigger Tank 500, which has only sold 529 units this year compared to 2228 Tank 300, is a clear demonstration that not all Chinese models sell in big numbers simply because they are cheaper than their rivals.The Tank 300 has therefore done enough to convince buyers to give it a chance and if this growth continues in the second half of the year it could become a key model for GWM.

Sedans used to be the staple of many brands in Australia, from the Holden Commodore to the Toyota Camry, but the SUV boom has seen numbers drop off significantly.Ten years ago, in 2016, the Toyota Camry was the fifth best-selling car in Australia, followed by the Commodore sedan in sixth.Fast forward to 2025, Toyota's sedan was the 35th best-selling car in the country, and the Commodore was nowhere to be seen.In 2026 there have been less than 10,000 mid-size sedan sales in Australia so far compared to mid-size SUVs, where almost 100,000 have already been sold. The Camry is still the dominant player in the sedan-only segment, owning nearly 70 per cent, but it looks like China’s next battleground in Australia will be a shot at shaking its dominance.BYD has led the way in this respect and it already has a fully-electric Seal and the just-launched plug-in hybrid Seal 6 on the market.The Seal in particular made some successful inroads into the sedan space. It accounts for the majority of sales outside of the Camry and the Tesla Model 3.The brand is not stopping there, with a larger Seal 7 plug-in hybrid sedan now approved for sale in Australia.MG is another brand focussing on sedans, having already brought in its MG5 a few years ago and the MG7 in 2026, both to middling levels of success so far.It’s not just BYD and MG that are getting in on the sedan act, however, with Geely confirming its Emgrand sedan next year initially in plug-in hybrid form, but possibly also plugless at a later date.Additionally the China-built Tesla Model 3 remains one of the best-selling EVs in the country.There are also 'legacy' brands pinning their hopes on a strong-selling sedan. Mazda recently launched its fully-electric 6e sedan, which is based on the Deepal L07 (not yet sold in Australia) - another China-made model. The 6e is a crucial model for Mazda as it looks to turn around extensive fines incurred under the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) due to its predominantly petrol-powered range.The electric 6e saw its initiative pre-order allocation run out very quickly, starting from $49,990 (before on-road costs), highlighting early signs of it achieving its potential.Korean brands Kia and Hyundai have also seen solid sales from its hatch/sedan models, with the K4 and i30 plugging along with a decent amount of registrations, which will be bolstered thanks to the arrival of desirable plugless hybrid versions of both.As usual, price is a key factor where Chinese sedans are providing an enticing alternative, bucking the trend of sedans becoming more expensive as buyers focus on SUVs.While the Mazda 2 is the most affordable sedan on sale at just $28,490, it is the sought-after hybrid tech luring buyers to newer options.The plug-in hybrid Seal 6, for example, starts from $34,990, which is $5000 more affordable than the plug-less hybrid-only Camry, and it is both larger and offers genuine EV range over the barely more affordable Hyundai i30 plugless hybrid (from $33,250). It will no doubt be a similar story for Geely's Emgrand EM-i which is set to launch in 2027.While SUVs remain the biggest seller in Australia, this new wave of affordable and electrified sedans could see the once bustling segment reignited.The question remains whether this array of new options will just fragment a shrinking part of the market, or whether buyers are now looking for something different from the SUV trend.

Toyota is aiming to have its range of vehicles be at least 30 per cent built from recycled materials by 2030, as new EU regulations are expected to target more than just tailpipe emissions in the next decade.Toyota is focusing on recycled metals, such as re-forged steel used from crushed or deconstructed vehicles as part of an extensive ‘circular economy’ push and to reduce waste.A strategy document shows various initiatives Toyota will be undertaking, which includes up to 25 per cent recycled plastics used in new vehicles by 2030, a declaration on the content of recycled metals (including steel, aluminium and magnesium) for its vehicles by 2028, and future designs will be easier to deconstruct when they reach end of life.The brand flags 19 parts including catalytic converters, bumpers, EV batteries and motors to be designed to be easily removed from scrap vehicles and deconstructed future range of vehicles.Part of this push is to comply with existing and incoming European regulations on materials use and recycling for cars. Regulations around end-of-life products require 25 per cent of plastics used in cars to be from recycled materials, while battery regulations require “recycled usage rate” targets for key materials like lithium, cobalt, nickel and lead.In total, Toyota is “aiming to achieve a recycled material rate in its vehicles sold in Japan and Europe of 30 per cent or more by 2030”. The 30 per cent figure is not by number of parts but by total weight of the vehicle.The report notes there are easier gains to be made toward this goal in the recycling of steel in order to reduce new raw materials used, plastics, meanwhile, are much more difficult to process due to the differences in materials used, and volatile components within them which make them expensive to re-process into new materials.Thanks to this new initiative, Toyota’s Gosei plastics manufacturing subsidiary has developed materials with a 50 per cent recycled plastic content and performance equivalent to newly-made plastics, which it says is a world-first. Examples of this material being used are in the glovebox and grille-backing material in the new Euro-market Camry.Other new Toyotas using recycled plastics include the incoming new-generation RAV4 and the Crown Sport SUV.As the majority of Toyota models sold in Australia are built in Japan, we can expect at least some of its more popular vehicles the RAV4, Corolla, and Camry to be made of this 30 per cent-by-weight recycled materials.While the goals seem to apply at a global level for the brand, it is unclear at this stage whether the targets for vehicles built in Europe and Japan will also apply to vehicles built in Thailand, like the ever-popular HiLux ute.Other brands will have to have similar targets for materials recycling in order to continue to sell vehicles in Europe, with regulators also expected to come after other non-exhaust particulate matter, like tyre waste and brake dust.As a result, many manufacturers are experimenting with re-introducing drum brakes, which capture waste, or using brake systems that heavily rely on regenerative braking via electric motors with back-up friction brakes contained in the motor assembly (inboard brakes), rather than discs on the wheel hub.One of the leaders in the sustainability space, Polestar, issues a sustainability report claiming its new Polestar 4 has the lowest lifecycle emissions in its entire range, despite it wielding a massive 100kWh battery pack. The brand says this is largely due to advances made in using recycled aluminium and steel in the car’s frame, as well as renewable energy power used in its factory and by suppliers.Nissan is also aiming for a 30 per cent recycled material target, while BMW is aiming for a 50 per cent recycled material content by 2030.

They were once the staple in almost every Australian driveway, but the sedan is looking increasingly in danger of disappearing altogether.Sales of family-sized sedans are down more than 60 per cent in 2025, with even the biggest names in the market including the Toyota Camry and Tesla Model 3 enduring a major sales slide.The decline of the Camry, which is down 46.4 per cent in the first nine months of 2025 is particularly telling. Once a staple not only of the sedan market, but one of the most popular cars in the country, the Camry is now struggling to find new buyers. Once popular family cars including the Holden Commodore, Ford Falcon and Mondeo, Mazda6, Volkswagen Passat, Kia Optima and more have all disappeared over the past decade and more and more buyers shift to utes and SUVs.A decade ago some local car executives openly questioned how large the SUV market could grow, doubting that the sedan could be overtaken, such as the dominance of the bodystyle at the time.That has clearly changed.Some industry insiders viewed electric cars as a potential saviour of the sedan, as the lower body allowed for better aerodynamics and less weight, and therefore greater efficiency and longer driving range off the batteries. The Model 3 and BYD Seal have performed strongly previously, but sales of both have taken a turn for the worse in 2025.This year Tesla reported sales of the Model 3 were down more than 65 per cent in the first seven months of the year, while the Seal has seen its sales halved. While this is happening, sales of SUVs and utes continue to stay strong, making it clear to car companies where they should be focusing their attention and future models. While there are some brands still committed to the sedan for now, it’s hard to see them playing a significant role for any brand in the future.Toyota will likely keep the Camry as long as possible given it has been a staple of the brand and recently received an update. But as we’ve seen with the Mazda6, which was a fixture of that brand’s line-up, no model is truly safe regardless of its heritage.The same is true for the premium end of the market too. The BMW 3-Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Audi A4 have often been amongst the best-selling sedans overall, competing on volume with the likes of the Mazda6, Sonata, Passat and others.But these luxury options are also suffering declining sales. The sales of mid-size sedans over $60,000 are down almost across the board, with the only model enjoying sales growth being the Audi A5 - which is coming off a small base and the departure of the A4.The fact that Audi has decided to retire the A4 badge and shift its sedan focus to the A5 is telling in itself. It underlines the shift from the traditional to this new era of both SUVs and electric vehicles.The recent reveal of the BMW iX3 as the first offering from the Bavarian brand’s so-called Neue Klasse is another sign that electric SUVs are the focus for many brands and sedans are an afterthought.This news will be disappointing for the sedan loyalists who simply don’t want to switch to a bigger SUV or ute. But the message is clear to those who still prefer sedans - get them while you can.