Sedans, as I see it, have two main advantages over crossovers: they sometimes look better and can drive better. Up against the mountaineering excess of a Jeep ad, you can counter-sell with performance or sexiness. But the Camry offers neither.
Despite Toyota’s aggressive marketing and adventurous styling, the Camry doesn’t evoke emotion. It’s an extremely competent and capable car, but people buy with their guts. It looks good, but not great. It drives better than any Camry before it, but worse than a Mazda or a Honda.
It’s refined but it isn’t exciting. And in a world that doesn’t seem to care about sedans, that’s damnation enough.
