????如果說眼下有一款車對豐田公司（Toyota）重整旗鼓至關重要的話，說的可不是產于美國的外表俗艷的敞篷小貨車，也不是豐田自我標榜的普銳斯（Prius）混合動力車系列的擴展車型。我們說的是豐田凱美瑞（Camry）——一款整潔的家庭日用轎車。加速器故障問題導致的飛來橫禍以及今年3月的日本大地震使豐田飽受創傷。因此，這家汽車公司迫切需要美國汽車買主繼續大量購買其為2012年重新設計的新款凱美瑞。

????第七代豐田凱美瑞將于10月3日正式上市。該車型繼承了前輩車型的絕大部分機械和內部設計特征，但采取了嶄新的外形設計。同時，豐田公司還大張旗鼓地宣傳其先進的新型“信息娛樂”系統，期望借此吸引科技追星族。此外，凱美瑞全新的天然氣-電力混合動力車版本也將上市，該車與前代產品相比，不僅功能更為強大，而且燃油經濟性更高——在使用混合動力的情況下，平均每加侖行駛41英里。

????新款凱美瑞將沿襲過去的一系列優勢。過去14年中有13年，該款車型均位居美國轎車銷量榜榜首。自1983年以來，該車在全球已售出970萬部。豐田首席執行官豐田童男親自參與此款新車的推介，并在肯塔基州喬治城工廠的車間里啟動了這款車的生產。

????今年晚些時候，日產汽車公司（Nissan）的Altima和通用汽車公司（General Motor）最新版的邁銳寶（Malibu）接連問世，豐田欲繼續保持在美國家庭轎車市場的統治地位，可謂難上加難。盡管Altima今年的銷量仍落后于凱美瑞，但卻上漲了17%，而凱美瑞的銷量則下降了8%。大眾汽車公司（Volkswagen）則憑借特別設計的全新的帕薩特（Passat）異軍突起，成為這一細分市場的有力競爭者，誓與日本最佳汽車一較高下。

????盡管如此，豐田仍然擁有幾大優勢。價格即是其中之一。豐田集團副總裁鮑勃?卡特于上周二在好萊塢舉行的新車推介會上稱，豐田汽車始終代表著家庭轎車領域的“最佳性價比”。他宣布，新車型的價格基本上均低于其前一代車型。比如說，LE車的定價為2.25萬美元，比2011年該車的零售價低了200美元?！柏S田車降低了價格，這點著實令我印象深刻?！睂I汽車網站Edmunds.com高級分析師邁克爾?克萊博斯稱：“其他汽車廠商都在紛紛提價，但豐田的舉措表明‘我們希望重新成為這一細分市場的領導者，為此我們愿意割讓一部分利潤?！?/p>

????豐田的另一大優勢是其位于喬治城的組裝工廠，即凱美瑞的生產地。鑒于過去5年中，美元價值相對于日元下滑了35%，在美國國內完成汽車組裝將使豐田在價格上擁有絕對優勢，這是競爭對手們難以企及的。由于日元相對堅挺，與在美國本土生產的汽車相比，由日本出口到美國的汽車價格可謂高昂。

????目前的未知因素在于，高科技信息娛樂軟件在豐田汽車中的表現到底如何。2012款的凱美瑞是首款搭載該公司所謂Entune系統的車型。該系統可識別語音命令，運行智能手機上的應用程序，還能用微軟（Microsoft）的必應系統（Bing）實現搜索功能。但是，如果新的Entune系統出現任何質量問題，或者市場反應不佳，豐田公司都會為此付出慘痛代價。福特汽車公司（Ford Motor）曾大肆宣傳與微軟（Microsoft）共同開發的同步（Sync）信息娛樂系統，不料卻引發了客戶對該系統的投訴，導致市場研究機構J.D. Power & Associates調低了該公司的總體質量評級。

????可以肯定的一點是，凱美瑞是豐田在美國市場最為重要的車型。這家日本汽車巨人目前正竭盡全力從一片慘淡中突圍而出，卷土重來，忠實用戶對新版凱美瑞的市場反應或許將成為它能否迎來轉折最重要的風向標。

????譯者：大海

????If there's one vehicle that matters most to Toyota's fledgling rebound, it's not a flashy, made-in-America pickup or even the expansion of its vaunted Prius hybrid line. It's the Toyota Camry, a no-muss, every-day family sedan. Badly battered by the unintended acceleration fiasco and last March's Japanese earthquake, Toyota desperately needs American car buyers to keep flocking to the Camry, newly redesigned for 2012.

????Toyota's (TM) seventh-generation Camry, which goes on sale Oct. 3, keeps most of the mechanical and architectural underpinnings of its predecessor. The exterior is new and the company is touting a sophisticated new "infotainment" system to appeal to tech-savvy consumers. A new gas-electric hybrid version, more powerful and yielding better mileage than its predecessor, will also be available. That model will average about 41 miles per gallon, combined.

????The new Camry will have a lot to live up to. The model has been the top-selling sedan in the U.S. for the 13 of the past 14 years. A whopping 9.7 million units have been sold worldwide since 1983. Akio Toyoda, Toyota's chief executive officer, himself pitched in to publicly present the new model and start production from the factory floor in Georgetown, Kentucky.

????Toyota's dominance in the U.S. family-sedan market will be harder to maintain with competition like Nissan's (NSNY) Altima and General Motor's (GM) newest version of the Chevrolet Malibu due out later this year. Altima sales, though running behind Camry's, were up more than 17% this year, while Camry's were down 8%. Volkswagen (VLKPY) is also suddenly a factor in the segment thanks to an all-new Passat specifically designed to contend with the best Japan can offer.

????Toyota has a few advantages. Price, for one. Bob Carter, Toyota's group vice president, said Tuesday at the new-model introduction in Hollywood that it has always represented "the best value" in the segment. He announced prices for the new model that were mostly lower than the models they replaced. The $22,500 LE model, for example, sells for $200 less at retail than the 2011 model. "The lower prices impressed me," says Senior Analyst for Edmunds.com Michelle Krebs. "While others are raising prices, Toyota is saying 'we want our leadership back, we're willing to give up some profit to be No. 1.'"

????Another big advantage is Toyota's Georgetown assembly plant, where the Camry is built. Given the 35% slide in the value of the dollar versus the yen over the past five years, domestic assembly will allow Toyota to play aggressive hardball on price -- something competitors will have a harder time doing. With the relative strength of Japanese currency, cars exported from Japan are costly to sell to U.S. customers compared to those built-in the U.S.

????Unknown is how Toyota's reliance on high-tech infotainment software will play out. The 2012 Camry is the first Toyota model to get the company's so-called Entune system, which can recognize voice commands, run apps from smartphones and perform searches using Microsoft's (MSFT) Bing. But any quality hiccups with the new Entune system or poor reaction from consumers could cost Toyota dearly. Ford Motor Co. (F) suffered a decline in its overall quality ratings from J.D. Power & Associates due to customer complaints with Ford's highly-touted Sync infotainment system, developed with Microsoft.

????What's certain is that the Camry is Toyota's most important car in the U.S. The reception the new model gets among the faithful will be the most telling turn yet in the Japanese giant's dramatic attempt to come back from pervasive woes.