Topic: Still King: Camry wins MTs latest family sedan comparo...

[rrocket]

Read it an weep, people!  I'm sure the Sonata fans will be on suicide watch with the new car finishing in 3rd.....

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/sedans/112_1005_best_selling_midsize_family_sedan_comparison/index.html

[Black Hatch]

Not a fair test they left out the Mazda6

[dr_spock]

MT writers/editors selected Camry.   Online readers of the MT article seem to prefer Fusion.

[rrocket]

MT writers/editors selected Camry.   Online readers of the MT article seem to prefer Fusion.

And overall US sales seems to prefer Camry/Accord.

[Bubba]

An interesting read.  I'll have to drive a few of these sedans.  Hopefully, the sales drones won't pick up that I'm not planning on buying for a few years. 

[Benhaze]

Why in the world is the Mazda6 not in this test???

Rrocket, I think you may have to put a couple if Nissan fans on that watch too.

[rrocket]

Why in the world is the Mazda6 not in this test???

Rrocket, I think you may have to put a couple if Nissan fans on that watch too.

Well to be fair...I think the Altima is getting a bit tired.  I'd think a redo is in the works in the next year or so, no??

[Benhaze]

Why in the world is the Mazda6 not in this test???

Rrocket, I think you may have to put a couple if Nissan fans on that watch too.

Well to be fair...I think the Altima is getting a bit tired.  I'd think a redo is in the works in the next year or so, no??

I agree. But since Nissan just slapped new headlights on it, the next redo is probably a couple of years away.

[Mitlov]

MT writers/editors selected Camry.   Online readers of the MT article seem to prefer Fusion.

And overall US sales seems to prefer Camry/Accord.

I was going to say that the US leaders would be Camry and Fusion, with anyone remotely enthusiastic (i.e., those who read MT) preferring the Fusion, and the others preferring the Camry.  But I looked up the January 2010 sales numbers and I was surprised.  Best-selling midsize cars in the United States in January 2010 were:

Honda Accord (19,022)
Nissan Altima (17,577) (turns out new headlights on old cars boost sales after all)
Chevy Malibu (16,372)
Toyota Camry (14,925)
Ford Fusion (11,088)

http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/list/top10/159366/article.html

Edit:  The market seems very volatile.  Lots of changes for February 2010, and not just with the Camry:

Honda Accord (22,456 (including 2,432 CrossTours))
Toyota Camry (16,552)
Ford Fusion (16,459)
Nissan Altima (16,198)
Chevy Malibu (15,150)

http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2010/03/top-10-bestselling-cars-february-2010.html

[Mitlov]

After reading the article, while I absolutely understand why the Camry won (it's the most mass-market-friendly), the second-place Fusion sounds like the winner for enthusiasts.  Compare:

Fusion:

Having successfully checked all the family-sedan wish-list boxes, what really propelled the Fusion to this lofty spot in the finishing order was its impressive driving dynamics. St. Antoine gushed: "Chassis is the best here, with outstanding steering feel and breathtaking front-end bite. Is this really an econo-family sedan? After a few turns you'd believe it's really a BMW." Loh also used the "B" word: "Suspension works out the canyon-road kinks much better than that BMW I drove over in [a 335i cabrio camera car]."

Camry:

Twist the key, drive off, and the Camry continues to impress with its supple ride quality and hushed cabin environment, especially at highway speeds. St. Antoine takes up the narrative: "Okay, steering feel and handling prowess are not outstanding, but when you hustle this slice of milquetoast, it shrugs off road imperfections and carves through turns just fine. There's lots of chassis roll but no loss of control. Seemingly excels at nothing, yet it really excels at everything. A driving enthusiast might want a more involving and athletic machine, but for 99 percent of buyers shopping in this category, the Camry simply nails the mission profile."

The Fusion is the family sedan I'd want; the Camry is the family sedan I'd urge my mother to buy.

[rrocket]

Not surprising the witch hunt had an effect on the January sales of the Camry.  But typically year in year out, it's Camry/Accord vying for top honours...

[Mitlov]

Not surprising the witch hunt had an effect on the January sales of the Camry.  But typically year in year out, it's Camry/Accord vying for top honours...

The stop-sale didn't help Camry sales either.

But what surprised me is how well the Altima is doing, and that the Malibu beat the Fusion in January.

[rrocket]

Not surprising the witch hunt had an effect on the January sales of the Camry.  But typically year in year out, it's Camry/Accord vying for top honours...

The stop-sale didn't help Camry sales either.

But what surprised me is how well the Altima is doing, and that the Malibu beat the Fusion in January.

Wonder if the Fusion being made in Mexico turns Americans off??

[rrocket]

After reading the article, while I absolutely understand why the Camry won (it's the most mass-market-friendly), the second-place Fusion sounds like the winner for enthusiasts. 

Possibly...but the numbers don't bear that out.  It was slower through the figure eight than the Sonata AND the Camry.  Now maybe it "feels" sportier...but in this case it didn't seem to translate to quicker in their standard handling test...

[Mitlov]

After reading the article, while I absolutely understand why the Camry won (it's the most mass-market-friendly), the second-place Fusion sounds like the winner for enthusiasts. 

Possibly...but the numbers don't bear that out.  It was slower through the figure eight than the Sonata AND the Camry.  Now maybe it "feels" sportier...but in this case it didn't seem to translate to quicker in their standard handling test...

Remember when it said "feel > stats" under my profile picture?  I prefer good feel over performance statistics.  I'm not racing a family sedan, so all that matters is how it feels, not whether it's a half-second faster around Laguna Seca.

[rrocket]

After reading the article, while I absolutely understand why the Camry won (it's the most mass-market-friendly), the second-place Fusion sounds like the winner for enthusiasts. 

Possibly...but the numbers don't bear that out.  It was slower through the figure eight than the Sonata AND the Camry.  Now maybe it "feels" sportier...but in this case it didn't seem to translate to quicker in their standard handling test...

Remember when it said "feel > stats" under my profile picture?  I prefer good feel over performance statistics.  I'm not racing a family sedan, so all that matters is how it feels, not whether it's a half-second faster around Laguna Seca.

Ya, ya, I remember.  You prefer to feel like your car is giving great performance over a car that's actually delivering great performance. 

[ArticSteve]

But what surprised me is how well the Altima is doing, and that the Malibu beat the Fusion in January.

GM was dumping Maliboos into the fleet market in January.  Ford was dumping Fusioons into the fleet market in February.

Fleet sales and incentives skew the numbers.  Gotta look at a minimun of 4 consecutive months.

[ArticSteve]

Wonder if the Fusion being made in Mexico turns Americans off??

They are too stupid to care.  Same in this country. 

[Black Hatch]

Wonder if the Fusion being made in Mexico turns Americans off??

They are too stupid to care.  Same in this country. 

Probably as much as they care that Toyota profits are going to Japan.

[Shnak]

I don't get their reasoning why the Camry is first and Sonata third... for the Sonata, they said the suspension on the SE was great for handling but didn't absorb road imperfections well, but acknoledged that the non-SE suspension settings are probably much better in this aspect. Then for the Camry, they said it didn't handle very good and didn't provide good steering feel, but its suspension handled road imperfections without any problems.

Sounds to me that they would have been much better off testing the non-SE Sonata, which would likely have outclassed the Camry based on their criterias.

Whatever, I always exclude the Camry from these list because I just don't care about it at all. Once you do that, it's hard to argue with the rest.

1. Fusion (lots of features, solid powertrain, AWD available)
2. Sonata (best powertrain/transmission combo, best fuel economy, features, value)
3. Legacy (Subaru AWD, enough said)
4. Accord (still a solid purchase)
5. Malibu (solid overall but not sure why you'd buy this instead of a Fusion other than allegiance to GM I suppose. Besides, Impala is a much better vehicle for not much more money)
6. Altima (solid overall, doesn't offer anything to distinguish itself IMO)

All in all, if I were looking for a sedan right now, I would hesitate between the Sonata, Legacy and Fusion. They all offer great value for different reasons.