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UMW Toyota Motor has held a line-off ceremony to mark the start of production of the Toyota Camry facelift at the Assembly Services Sdn Bhd plant in Shah Alam. Two variants will be produced here - the Camry 2.0 petrol and Camry Hybrid, the latter being the first Toyota hybrid to be assembled in Malaysia (CKD).

Nearly RM180 million has been spent from 2010 to 2015 on the Camry CKD project, and as a result, the newly-set up line at the Shah Alam plant is capable of churning out 7,000 units of the Camry Hybrid over the next nine months.

The nine-month mention is of interest - it points to December 2015, which is of course when the government's tax breaks for CKD hybrids are set to expire. As of now, there are no government plans yet to extend the incentive, so Toyota would want to ride this nine-month wave as much as they can.

Already launched in Thailand, the Toyota Camry facelift has been spotted in Malaysia several times - the Camry 2.0 will get a new 2.0 litre VVT-iW D-4S engine and possibly a six-speed auto. The new 6AR-FSE engine, manufactured in China, has separate twin injectors for both direct and port injection, and makes 167 PS and 199 Nm of torque, compared to the current 2.0 VVT-i's 150 PS and 190 Nm. With the six-speed auto, a fuel efficiency improvement of 13% is claimed too.

The Toyota Camry Hybrid has a 2.5 litre Atkinson-cycle VVTi four-cylinder petrol engine that develops 160 hp and 213 Nm of torque. The 2AR-FXE joins forces with a 143 PS/270 Nm electric motor and an eCVT gearbox for a total output of 205 PS and a claimed consumption figure of 19.6 km per litre. A hybrid battery warranty of eight years with unlimited mileage will be offered.

According to UMW Toyota president Datuk Ismet Suki, the facelifted Camry and Camry Hybrid are set to be launched on April 2, and both will be priced under RM200k. With reference to the upcoming Goods and Services Tax (GST), Ismet said the savings will be passed on to the customer.