Jeannine Anderson's Honda Accord served her well for 13 years before she decided to give it to her son-in-law. But when the self-described Honda fan was hunting a new car, she decided to consider the Toyota Camry, a car her late husband had wanted and one whose stellar reputation she knew from reading Consumer Reports.
After test drives with the Accord and the Camry, Anderson, 71, got her first Toyota -- a gray V-6 she says gets 15km per liter.
"I just absolutely love it," Anderson, of Bancroft, said on Thursday. "It's quiet, dependable."
Drivers like Anderson have helped make the Camry a perennial top seller, with figures for last year showing it was the bestselling car in the US for the fourth year in a row, and eight of the last nine years. It again topped the Accord and other mid-size competitors such as the Chevrolet Impala.
And with a hybrid Camry due out this year and a fully redesigned 2007 Camry set to be unveiled on Monday at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, the sedan will likely set the bar high for its competitors.
"Camry is a benchmark," said Jim Sanfilippo, a senior industry analyst with Bloomfield Hills-based Automotive Marketing Consultants Inc. "The new Camry is going to be another Toyota benchmark. It is going to be a little more expressive in its styling ... it will be more powerful."
Toyota hasn't released details about the new Camry, but Jim Press, president and chief operating officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc, said it will offer better style, technology and drivability. And it will build on the reputation the nameplate has established in previous incarnations.
"It's a car that really hits the needs of most customers," Press said during a conference call on Wednesday. "It's a car that will get you from here to there without any hassle. It's a good reflection of our brand, because it's about customer satisfaction."
Press said he expects the company this year to sell about the nearly 432,000 Camrys it sold last year, but may lose some sales as it switches from offering the old model. He said that Toyota strives to keep Camry's style timeless while keeping in mind the goal of a well-balanced car that satisfies drivers' needs.
The Chien Feng IV (勁蜂, Mighty Hornet) loitering munition is on track to enter flight tests next month in connection with potential adoption by Taiwanese and US armed forces, a government source said yesterday. The kamikaze drone, which boasts a range of 1,000km, debuted at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition in September, the official said on condition of anonymity. The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and US-based Kratos Defense jointly developed the platform by leveraging the engine and airframe of the latter’s MQM-178 Firejet target drone, they said. The uncrewed aerial vehicle is designed to utilize an artificial intelligence computer
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday decided to shelve proposed legislation that would give elected officials full control over their stipends, saying it would wait for a consensus to be reached before acting. KMT Legislator Chen Yu-jen (陳玉珍) last week proposed amendments to the Organic Act of the Legislative Yuan (立法院組織法) and the Regulations on Allowances for Elected Representatives and Subsidies for Village Chiefs (地方民意代表費用支給及村里長事務補助費補助條例), which would give legislators and councilors the freedom to use their allowances without providing invoices for reimbursement. The proposal immediately drew criticism, amid reports that several legislators face possible charges of embezzling fees intended to pay
REQUIREMENTS: The US defense secretary must submit a Taiwan security assistance road map and an appraisal of Washington’s ability to respond to Indo-Pacific conflict The US Congress has released a new draft of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes up to US$1 billion in funding for Taiwan-related security cooperation next year. The version published on Sunday by US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson removed earlier language that would have invited Taiwan to participate in the US-led Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC). A statement on Johnson’s Web page said the NDAA “enhances U.S. defense initiatives in the Indo-Pacific to bolster Taiwan’s defense and support Indo-Pacific allies.” The bill would require the US secretary of defense to “enable fielding of uncrewed and anti-uncrewed systems capabilities”
Renewed border fighting between Thailand and Cambodia showed no signs of abating yesterday, leaving hundreds of thousands of displaced people in both countries living in strained conditions as more flooded into temporary shelters. Reporters on the Thai side of the border heard sounds of outgoing, indirect fire yesterday. About 400,000 people have been evacuated from affected areas in Thailand and about 700 schools closed while fighting was ongoing in four border provinces, said Thai Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri, a spokesman for the military. Cambodia evacuated more than 127,000 villagers and closed hundreds of schools, the Thai Ministry of Defense said. Thailand’s military announced that
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