丰田加快推出款新凯美瑞

Since introducing its Camry family sedan in 1983, Toyota Motor Corp. has brought out an all-new version of the model every five or six years, making slighter modifications and enhancements in the interim.

This time, Toyota is accelerating the pace of change. Just three years after the seventh generation Camry was introduced, Toyota is revamping the car extensively, in keeping with an exhortation from CEO Akio Toyoda to “make better cars.” While not quite a complete makeover, Toyota has replaced about a third of the Camry’s 6,000 parts and restyled the exterior and interior to make it more eye-catching and less bland.

Though Toyota won’t disclose how much it invested, the sum is likely in the neighborhood of $500 million, an unexpectedly large investment to keep Camry at the front of a pack of midsize sedans that includes Honda Accord, Nissan Altima, Chevrolet Malibu, Hyundai Sonata and Ford Fusion.

“The midsize family sedan segment is three million units a year,” said Bill Fay, group vice president of Toyota’s U.S. sales organization. “It’s still the biggest segment in the U.S. market and very important to us.”

Twelve years running Camry has been the No. 1 best-selling car in the U.S. In 2014 it leads the segment again and likely will reign as top-seller for a thirteenth year in a row. Toyota’s decision to invest half a billion dollars in Camry just two years ahead of its likely next full-model change is an aggressive move, difficult to justify on financial grounds alone, yet reflective of the automaker’s determination not to cede leadership.

Last April, at the New York Auto Show when the Camry prototype was unveiled, Fay said Toyota knew the car had to be far more visually expressive to compete with bolder styling from Ford’s new Fusion and Hyundai’s new Sonata. The midsize family segment also faces new competition from lower-priced sedans by Mercedes-Benz and other luxury manufacturers.

The most noticeable styling change is Camry’s new fascia, which is bold, open and forceful, like a mouth about to devour whatever is in front of it. Except for the roof, the entire exterior is new. Toyota engineers also added to the rigidity of the car’s body with more spot welds, as well as more insulation to make the cabin quieter.

Following Akio Toyoda’s ascension to chief executive in 2009 in the midst of the automaker’s sudden-acceleration troubles, his mandate to subordinates was clear: shake up the company and improve the products. Among the organizational changes in the U.S. is a move for the company’s headquarters to Plano, Texas from Torrance, California.

Toyota’s impressive financial strength gives it the latitude to embark on a costly mid-cycle upgrade for a key model like Camry. The goal isn’t just to sell more cars and at higher prices: Executives know Volkswagen AG and General Motors are gunning for Toyota’s title of No. 1 globally in sales.

The new Camry symbolizes Toyota’s determination to maintain a lofty status with consumers, reviewers, credit ratings agencies and others who assigned high grades to the company’s vehicles and financial performance

That won’t be easy: As many big, successful companies have discovered, complacency can be the subtlest and deadliest of enemies.

自1983年凯美瑞（Camry）系列轿车诞生以来，丰田汽车公司（Toyota Motor Corp.）每隔五六年就会做一些微小改动和增强，在此基础上推出一款全新车型。

不过这一次，丰田加快了更新的步伐。为了响应社长丰田章男的训诫：“做更好的汽车”，第七代凯美瑞推出不过三年，丰田就对其进行了大规模的改进。尽管这并非一次彻底的改造，但丰田替换了凯美瑞6,000个部件中的大约三分之一，改变了汽车的内外风格，让它变得更加吸引眼球，而不是平淡无奇。

尽管丰田并未透露具体的投资额，但这次改造的花费很可能在5亿美元左右，这是一笔出人意料的大投资，目的是为了让凯美瑞在包括本田（Honda）雅阁（Accord）、日产（Nissan）Altima、雪佛兰（Chevrolet）迈锐宝（Malibu）和福特（Ford）Fusion在内的中型轿车市场保持领先地位。

美国丰田销售公司副总裁比尔•费伊表示：“美国每年要卖出300万辆中型家用轿车，这仍然是美国汽车市场中最大的一块，对我们而言十分重要。”

凯美瑞已经连续12年成为全美最畅销汽车。2014年，它再次在该领域名列前茅，很可能将连续第13次摘得销量桂冠。丰田决定在凯美瑞上投资5亿美元，并将可能进行的下一次产品更新提前两年，可谓是进取心十足的举动。我们很难单从经济效益的角度对其做出判断，但此举体现出了丰田不愿意将领先优势拱手让人的决心。

在今年4月的纽约国际汽车展（New York Auto Show）上，丰田展示了新款凯美瑞的原型。费伊表示，丰田清楚这款汽车在外型上还需要更具视觉冲击力，才能与风格鲜明的新款福特Fusion和新款现代（Hyundai）索纳塔（Sonata）抗衡。中型家用轿车市场也面临着来自梅赛德斯-奔驰（Mercedes-Benz）和其他豪华汽车厂商低价车的竞争。

最引人注目的风格改变出现在凯美瑞的新仪表板上，它的设计大胆开放，充满力度，就像一张将要吞噬面前一切的大嘴。除了车顶以外，汽车的外表有了彻底的变化。丰田的工程师增加了车身的焊点，使得车身硬度增强，此外还强化了其隔音效果，使车内环境更加安静。

在2009年丰田深陷汽车突然加速的麻烦时，丰田章男接任社长。此后，他对下属的指令就十分明确：重组公司，改进产品。而丰田在美国进行的重组中，有一项就是把总部从加利福尼亚州托伦斯迁到德克萨斯州普莱诺。

丰田强大的财力让他们有能力对凯美瑞这样的关键车型进行价值不菲的中期升级。公司的目的不仅是以更高的价格卖出更多的汽车：高管们都知道，大众汽车（Volkswagen AG）和通用汽车（General Motors）都在努力从丰田手中夺取全球销量第一的宝座。

新款凯美瑞象征着丰田的决心：维持公司在顾客、评论员、信用评级机构和其他对丰田汽车及其财务业绩赞誉有加的人士心中的崇高地位。

这点并不简单：正如许多成功的大型企业发现的那样，自满可能是最隐蔽却最致命的敌人。