The Toyota Camry is a series of mid-size (originally compact) automobiles manufactured by Toyota since 1982, and sold in the majority of automotive markets throughout the world. Between 1980 and 1982, the "Camry" nameplate was delegated to a four-door sedan, known as the Toyota Celica Camry.
The name "Camry" is an Anglicized phonetic transcription of the Japanese word kanmuri, meaning "crown". This follows Toyota's naming tradition of using the crown name for primary models starting with the Toyota Crown in 1955, continuing with the Toyota Corona and Corolla; the Latin words for "crown" and "small crown", respectively.
The Camry is the best-selling car in North America. The Camry also sells very well in Australia, and a number of Asian markets. Despite international success, the Camry has not sold as well in its home market Japan, or in Europe where sales ended in 2004. For the East and Southeast Asian markets, high-specification Camry models are seen as executive cars. Since the XV30 series, the Camrys sold in these markets have sported revised front- and rear-end treatment. For the 2006 onwards XV40 version, the same was done, although the Australian-designed and Camry-derived Toyota Aurion (XV40) was the donor model. The Aurion features revised front- and rear-end styling and changes to the interior, but is fitted with the same powertrains.
Toyota's Camry originated in January 1980 as a four-door sedan approximate to the Toyota Celica coupe and liftback. Known as the "Celica Camry" and sold only in Japan at Toyota Corolla Store retail dealerships, the four-door shared few components with the model from which its name derives. Instead, Toyota elongated the front-end of the Carina (A40, A50), incorporating styling cues to resemble the 1978–1981 Celica XX (known as the Celica Supra in export markets).
