Toyota did sell a Camry called the RZ in Australia, but not for 2019. The Camry RZ was a limited-edition, seventh-generation Australian model based on the Altise, offered in 2016. The 2019 model year fell within the eighth-generation Camry (code XV70), which Toyota Australia imported from Japan after local manufacturing ended, and that car used an entirely different set of grade names. There was no 2019 Camry RZ.
What the Camry RZ was
The Camry RZ was a special edition of the locally built seventh-generation Camry, based on the Altise grade. Toyota Australia created it as a sportier-looking, better-equipped version of the volume model, adding roughly A$4,000 of extra equipment over the Altise. It was a limited-run vehicle rather than a permanent member of the range, and it was sold only in Australia.
The first 2016 RZ run
Toyota Australia introduced the Camry RZ in June 2016, priced from A$28,490 before on-road costs. The first batch was limited to 1,100 units, and the cars added sporty visual and equipment touches over the Altise on which they were based. The model proved popular enough to sell out, which led Toyota to bring it back later in the year.
The second 2016 RZ run
Toyota re-launched the Camry RZ in November 2016, this time limited to 700 units and priced at A$29,190 before on-road costs. The second run added satellite navigation and digital radio as standard equipment. That A$29,190 figure is the price some sources attach to a “2019 Camry RZ,” but it belongs to a 2016 car, not to anything from 2019.
Why there was no 2019 Camry RZ
Toyota ceased building cars in Australia in October 2017, ending local Camry production. The eighth-generation Camry went on sale in Australia in November 2017 as a fully imported model, replacing the locally built car. Toyota adopted new grade names for the imported Camry: Ascent, Ascent Sport, SX and SL. There was no RZ grade in that line-up, and those names continued into the 2019 model year, so the RZ simply ceased to exist when the seventh-generation car ended.
The eighth-generation Camry in Australia
- Entry Ascent: from A$27,690 before on-road costs
- Grades: Ascent, Ascent Sport, SX and SL
- Powertrains: 2.5-liter four-cylinder, 3.5-liter V6 and a 2.5-liter hybrid
- Five-star ANCAP safety rating
- Imported from Japan after Australian production ended in October 2017
The imported Camry was the first fully imported Camry since the original model of the early 1980s, arriving only weeks after local production stopped. It brought the same TNGA platform used by the American Camry, and Toyota positioned it as a more efficient and more modern replacement for the car it had built in Melbourne for decades.
What a 2019 Camry buyer could actually get
Someone shopping for a new Camry in Australia in 2019 chose from the Ascent, Ascent Sport, SX and SL grades, with four-cylinder, V6 and hybrid powertrains spread across them. There was no sporty RZ variant and no limited-edition run. The closest thing to the old RZ’s role was the SX, which combined the sportier body and larger wheels with the four-cylinder or V6 engine. Buyers who want the hybrid version specifically should look at the upper grades, which offered Toyota’s hybrid system with the 2.5-liter engine.
The RZ name today
Because the RZ was a 2016-only special edition, any surviving examples are used cars whose age is best judged by the registration date rather than the name. There is no 2019, 2020 or later Camry RZ; the name retired with the locally built Camry. Buyers who want the later, imported car should search by grade — Ascent, Ascent Sport, SX or SL — rather than by the RZ name. The hybrid versions of the eighth-generation car are covered in our 2019 Toyota Camry Hybrid XSE, and the Australian sport grades of the previous generation appear in our 2019 Toyota Camry Atara SX release date Canada. For more models, see Toyota Review.
The seventh-generation Camry it was based on
The Camry RZ was built on the seventh-generation Australian Camry, a car assembled at Toyota’s Altona plant in Melbourne. That locally made Camry used a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine, and the Altise was its volume grade. The RZ added sporty styling and extra equipment on top of the Altise rather than a different engine, so mechanically it was the same car as the model it was based on.
The end of Australian Camry production
Toyota Australia stopped manufacturing vehicles in 2017, a decision that affected the Camry, the Aurion and the local Corolla. The last Australian-built Camry left the line in October 2017, and Toyota replaced it with an imported car within a matter of weeks. That change is the reason the RZ, Atara and other locally developed names disappeared; they belonged to the locally built generation, not to the imported one.
What RZ owners should know
Because the RZ was an equipment and appearance package rather than a distinct mechanical model, parts and servicing are the same as for the equivalent Altise. Its value today rests on condition and mileage rather than on any special drivetrain. Anyone who owns or is considering one should treat it as a 2016 Camry, not as a 2019 model, and check the compliance plate rather than relying on the RZ badge when dating the car.
Together, the two 2016 runs accounted for 1,800 cars, all of them built at Altona before local production ended. That makes the Camry RZ a genuinely limited model, but a limited model of the seventh generation rather than of the 2019 car.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Camry_(XV70)
- https://www.goauto.com.au/new-models/toyota/camry/rz/toyota-resurrects-camry-rz/2016-11-03/13158.html
- https://www.carsales.com.au/editorial/details/toyota-launches-pricier-imported-camry-109909/
- https://www.whichcar.com.au/news/2018-toyota-camry-pricing-and-features
