The Toyota Aurion is a mid-size sedan that Toyota built in Australia and sold across Australasia, the Middle East and parts of Asia between 2006 and 2017. It was closely related to the Camry, sharing its platform and center bodywork while wearing its own front and rear styling and, in Australia, a standard V6 engine. Australian production ended in August 2017, which means no 2020 Aurion was ever built. This article covers the car that actually existed: its history, its verified specifications and the model that replaced it.
What Distinguished the Aurion from the Camry
Toyota positioned the Aurion as a more premium companion to the four-cylinder Camry. The two cars shared a platform, a drivetrain layout and much of their underlying structure; differences were limited mainly to revised front- and rear-end treatment and interior fittings. In Australia and New Zealand the Aurion replaced the Toyota Avalon, whose lineage traces back to the early 1990s and which is covered in our 2019 Toyota Avalon Review. In most of East and Southeast Asia the same car was simply sold as the Camry. The Aurion name is derived from the Greek word meaning “tomorrow”.
A Brief History of the Model
The first generation, the XV40, went on sale in 2006 and ran until 2012. It replaced the front-wheel-drive Avalon in Australasia and shared its tooling, drivetrain and center body with the Camry. In August 2007 Toyota Australia added a high-performance TRD Aurion, fitted with a supercharged V6, a full body kit and chassis upgrades. It was short-lived: Toyota discontinued it in March 2009 after building and selling only 537 examples in roughly eighteen months. The second-generation XV50 followed, with Australian production beginning in February 2012 and the car reaching showrooms that April.
Annual sales peaked early. Toyota’s Australian tally records 22,036 Aurions in 2007 and 19,562 in 2008, easing to 13,910 in 2009, 11,764 in 2010 and 8,915 in 2011 as buyers shifted toward SUVs and smaller cars. Over the entire Australian run, 111,140 examples were sold. You can compare that trajectory with Toyota’s compact-car business in our 2019 Toyota Corolla Review.
Mid-Life Changes and Special Editions
Australia kept the Aurion for much longer than other markets. While the version sold in Japan and Southeast Asia was replaced by the TNGA Camry, the Australian car carried on with only a light facelift. That update left the exterior essentially unchanged, deleted the mid-range Prodigy trim and merged the two Sportivo variants into a single Sportivo grade, leaving the range as AT-X, Sportivo and Presara.
Toyota also used the Aurion for limited-run editions. In 2012 it released the Touring SE, of which 1,500 were built, all based on the AT-X and distinguished by a rear spoiler, front fog lamps and a sports grille. Inside, the Touring SE matched the AT-X but added a steering wheel with audio controls and sport pedals. These editions underline that the Aurion was a steady seller rather than a niche model, spread across a small number of well-defined trims.
Engine and Performance
Every Australian-delivered Aurion used Toyota’s 2GR-FE, a 3.5-liter V6. According to autoevolution’s specification listing, it produced 200 kW (272 PS; 268 bhp) at 6,200 rpm and 336 N⋅m (248 lb-ft) of torque at 4,700 rpm, driving the front wheels through a six-speed automatic transmission. The same listing records combined fuel consumption of 9.3 L/100 km (25.3 mpg US) and CO2 emissions of 215 g/km on the NEDC test cycle. The engine was a multi-point fuel-injected gasoline unit, and the car used ventilated front and solid rear disc brakes.
Dimensions, Trim Levels and Interior
The XV50 Aurion measured 4,836 mm (190.4 in) long, 1,826 mm (71.9 in) wide and 1,471 mm (57.9 in) tall, on a 2,776 mm (109.3 in) wheelbase. Curb weight was approximately 1,525 kg (3,362 lb). Australian buyers chose among trims such as the volume-selling AT-X, the sportier Sportivo and the flagship Presara. The Presara added luxury-oriented equipment including a navigation system with a 7-inch touchscreen and a power-operated rear sunshade.
autoevolution notes that the Aurion’s interior was roomy when measured against its main Australian rivals, the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon. Those two cars were rear-wheel drive, while the Aurion sent power to the front, which helped free up rear-seat and floor space. Its closest relative in Toyota’s global range was the Lexus ES, which shared the same basic front-wheel-drive architecture.
Markets and Availability
The Aurion itself was sold in Australia and New Zealand, while its Camry-badged twin covered much of East and Southeast Asia and the Middle East. The model was never offered in North America or Western Europe. In Japan the related “prestige” Camry was discontinued in July 2017, and the version sold in Southeast Asia ended in late 2018, both replaced by the TNGA-based XV70 Camry. Toyota’s full lineup is summarized in our Toyota Review section.
Why There Was No 2020 Model
Toyota assembled the Aurion at its Altona plant outside Melbourne, the same factory that built the Camry. Production of the second-generation Aurion in Australia ended in August 2017, closing out almost eleven years of the nameplate. With the plant’s closure, Toyota reintroduced an imported V6 Camry for the first time since 2006, sourcing the XV70 generation from Japan. That car, rather than a new Aurion, is the true successor, so a 2020 Toyota Aurion simply does not exist.
Buying a Used Aurion Today
Because the Aurion was sold in only a handful of markets, used examples are concentrated in Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East and parts of Southeast Asia. The XV50 is a conventional front-wheel-drive sedan with a naturally aspirated V6 and a torque-converter automatic, so buyers should check the service history, transmission behavior and the condition of the cooling and timing systems. The supercharged TRD Aurion is a rare collector’s item, and parts for its engine are harder to find than for the standard car.
