Go back a mere two decades and look at what the automotive world was like:
The Toyota Camry was the best-selling car in America and had been for years.
The Toyota Prius was---weird. And it wasn't just the styling, remember? It was a (insert whisper, gasp or laugh from friends, neighbors and co-workers here) hybrid.
"What happens when the battery dies? Your car'll be worthless! Get a REAL car---a NORMAL car---you know---a Camry."
That was 2005. Now it's model year 2025. The Toyota Camry is still the best-selling car (not truck, SUV or crossover) in America and it is now---a hybrid.
It's an all-new, ninth-generation Camry this year, though the changes are evolutionary, not revolutionary...essentially the same dimensions, with an arguably cleaner rear-end treatment and a much more aggressive front end.
You've been able to get a Camry that was a hybrid since 2007 (in fact, I reviewed a 2023 Camry Hybrid in January of '23).
But beginning now---the only way to get a Camry is with a hybrid. The previous gasoline-only four-cylinder and V6 are gone---replaced by a 2.5-liter, four-cylinder gasoline engine paired with an electric motor. For front-wheel drive models like our tester, the net combined horsepower is 225 (it's 232 for AWD models, which have two electric motors). That's a nice bump over the 208 hp in the '23 Camry Hybrid.
The EPA fuel economy estimate for the XSE I drove is 47 mpg combined city/highway, and that's up from last year's 46. The base LE is still more frugal with a 51 mpg combined estimate---though that's from Toyota and not the EPA.
The transmission is a continuously variable unit with paddle shifters. The top-of-the-line XSE also gets a sport-tuned suspension and a single exhaust with dual chrome tips.
Trunk size for the 2025 Camry is 15.1 cubic feet. Being a hybrid doesn't eat into that---Toyota's engineers packaged the battery under the rear seat.
Speaking of the rear seat, it's a nice place to be, with rear vents and 38.0 inches of legroom.
The biggest visual change apart from the nose is the interior. The instrument panel is much more cohesive and flowing. The touchscreen no longer looks like a tacked-on afterthought.
The base price of the 2025 Toyota Camry XSE (FWD) is $35,695 including destination. That comes with a long list of standard features, including a comprehensive active safety suite, 19-inch black and smoke-gray alloy wheels, LED headlights and taillights, front side acoustic laminated glass, a body-colored front sport mesh grille, front side canards (a small winglike projection attached to an aircraft forward of the main wing to provide extra stability or control, sometimes replacing the tail---thanks, Oxford Dictionary), rear sport diffuser, gloss black rear spoiler, trunk garnish, rear Camry badge, a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster, a 12.3-inch touchscreen with a six-speaker audio system that includes wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and a three-month trial of SiriusXM Satellite Radio, aluminum sport pedals, leather-trimmed interior surfaces, heated leather-trimmed steering wheel, heated and powered front seats, dual-zone automatic climate control, smart key with pushbutton start, wireless charging, five USB ports (one for media plus one of the old USB-A ports and three of the newer, smaller, higher-capacity USB-C ports for charging), ambient lighting and an auto-dimming rearview mirror.
There was also a pretty hefty amount of extra-cost optional equipment on our test car. The Heavy Metal is a special paint color, costing $425. The two-tone Midnight Black Metallic roof added $500, and the standard wheels were swapped for 19-inch dark grey metallics, which cost another $1,500.
But the big addition was the Premium Plus Package, which adds front cross-traffic alert, lane change assist, panoramic view monitor, front and rear parking assist with automatic braking, a nine-speaker JBL premium audio system, ventilated front seats, a ten-inch head-up display, digital key and a panoramic glass roof with front power tilt and slide. That's $4,075.
All told, the as-tested price of the 2025 Toyota Camry XSE (fwd) is $42,195.
The 2025 Camry is smooth, quiet, has responsive acceleration and handling, and gets great gas mileage. The interior (in XSE trim, with the extra-cost Premium Package Plus) is tremendous. Twenty years ago, when hybrids were weird, they could have sold this as a Lexus and no one would have questioned it.
Progress.
