2018 Toyota Camry Photo: Paul Kaminski
America’s best-selling sedan gets a facelift and more connected car capability for 2018. The 2018 Toyota Camry sedan made its debut at the 2017 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
Sandy Lobenstein, vice president of Connected Services and Product Planning for Toyota Motor Corp., North America, told Radio World the third-generation of Toyota’s Entune connected car system will add enhanced navigation, control options and 4G LTE Wi-Fi connectivity to Entune systems installed in the Camry. He says that terrestrial radio and HD Radio will continue to play an important role in the Entune system, and not only because it improves the listening experience. Toyota and its luxury marque, Lexus, uses HD data to transmit traffic information to its customers with higher end navigation system options.
“Almost 90% of our customers in their vehicles are tuning into terrestrial radio every day,” said Lobenstein. “Even though we hear people talking about streaming and services on smartphones, it means that terrestrial radio plays an important role in the car, especially when users are looking for local content. When asked about the place of terrestrial and satellite radio, Lobenstein said, “We [Toyota] see them as complementary and not displacing each other.”
