Riding on the back of its success with the oddball styled but superbly reliable Qualis MUV, Toyota via its Indian subsidiary Toyota Kirloskar Motor Ltd is poised to leapfrog segments and get to the rarified end of the Indian car spectrum with one of its most significant and successful of models. The company has lined up its stunning Accord-sized Camry for an India launch this November and OVERDRIVE magazine laid its hands on the very first example of the Camry 2.4 which will be imported as a CBU for sale from the next month onwards.

The Camry is one of Toyota’s most important models, both from a name badge point of view as also from the success it has garnered over the years in Asia and the USA. The Camry (named from the Japanese Kan-Muri which means ‘crown’) first debuted in the year 1983, taking over from the Corona in the Toyota model range. In fact over the past decade, it has consistently been among the three best-selling cars in the US and crucially carries a running feud with the Honda Accord (one of our favourite cars, it must be said) in the US of A. As we find out, the portents of this battle spilling over onto Indian roads is an absolute eventuality, the Camry being an exceedingly good challenger.