If you thought Toyota’s switch to hybrid-only power for the Camry meant there wouldn’t be another performance-focused model like the last-generation Camry TRD, you might be wrong. Toyota is bringing the more athletic Camry GT-S Concept to the 2025 SEMA Show in Las Vegas.
For 2020, Toyota introduced the first-ever Camry TRD. To make it look sportier and more aggressive, the performance specialists at the Toyota Racing Development added a body kit and a pronounced rear spoiler. They didn’t increase the output of the Camry’s 301-horsepower V6, but they did connect it to a specially tuned cat-back exhaust system. The Camry TRD sat lower 0.6 inches to the ground on stiffer coil springs and sway bars, and TRD shocks. Larger 12.9-inch front brake rotors with dual-piston calipers were installed behind the 19-inch wheels, which were wrapped in summer tires.
Given that the Camry became exclusively hybrid-powered in the 2025 model year, it appeared unlikely that Toyota would make a successor to the previous V6-only TRD variant. The Camry GT-S is officially a concept car, so that still may hold true, but the GT-S seems too similar to the TRD and too production-ready to be purely a show car that leads to nothing. That’s reinforced by the goal behind the creation of the GT-S: “Create a sport sedan that feels like it could roll straight from a dealership floor into a customer’s garage.”
The GT-S is based on the 2025 Camry XSE AWD, which has a 232-horsepower 2.5-liter four-cylinder hybrid engine – a setup that wasn’t modified for the GT-S. The same goes for the interior.
Just as it did with the Camry TRD, Toyota focused its efforts on the exterior and suspension. The GT-S is finished in a two-tone color scheme of Inferno Flare for the body and black for the rear spoiler, roof, pillars, and part of the hood and redesigned nose, emphasizing the Camry’s “hammerhead” front-end styling. Below the doors are black side skirts with winglets at each end. According to Toyota, “The rear fascia and bumper were engineered to integrate seamlessly with a performance exhaust.”
Hmmm… That sounds familiar. So does the brake and suspension setup. Toyota swapped out the stock wheels for a set of 20-inch rollers with 245/35 rubber. Behind those are 365mm front brake rotors with eight-piston calipers and 356mm rear rotors clamped by six-piston calipers. Adjustable coilovers drop the GT-S by 1.5 inches to give it a cooler stance and better handling.
You can see the Toyota Camry GT-S at the 2025 SEMA Show, November 4–7 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. And maybe, one day, you can see it – or something very close to it – in Toyota dealerships.
