Despite an overall decline in interest in sedans, both the Toyota Camry and Honda Civic were top-10 sellers last year.

By Keith Griffin

Nobody gets excited about sedans anymore. SUVs continue to be the top sellers, but fortunately, two classic sedans remain among the top-selling vehicles in the United States: the Honda Civic and the Toyota Camry. The Camry was seventh best in 2024 for sales, and the Civic came in at the number 10 spot.

For 2025, both models have undergone significant improvements. The Camry is now exclusively hybrid and combines a stunning exterior style, a new interior design, and upgraded technology features. For 2925, the Civic was refreshed for more style, more tech, and with the available two-motor hybrid powertrain, a lot more power. Honda must have done something right because the Civic was named North American Car of the Year.

2025 Honda Civic Interior Sport Touring Hybrid. Courtesy photo

Honda Civic

The 2025 Honda Civic Sport Touring most likely piled up its long list of accolades because it is fun to drive – and gets great fuel economy thanks to its hybrid engine. With 232 lb.-ft of torque and 200 horsepower, the new Civic hybrid is the most powerful Civic ever not named Type R, while receiving a 50 mpg EPA city fuel economy rating. It has effortless acceleration and handles curvy roads with ease. The ride and handling dynamics of Civic hybrid have been optimized with unique spring and damper tuning, and a specially-developed tire.

These reviews at We-Ha.com haven’t touched on noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) before, but the new Civic also excels at this. Low levels of NVH upgrade a vehicle’s enjoyment. Hybrid trims also enjoy the lowest NVH levels in the Civic lineup, with a robust noise reduction package that includes active noise control in all hybrids.

The Honda Sensing suite of safety and driver-assistive technologies is standard on all Civic models, with enhanced safety performance for 2025, including increased system visibility for motorcycles and bicycles for the collision mitigation braking system with pedestrian detection.

The 2025 Civic Sedan is available in four trim levels, starting with LX and Sport, and topped by the hybrid-powered Sport Hybrid and Sport Touring Hybrid. Civic LX has a starting Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of $24,250 (excluding $1,095 destination charge). The hybrid-electric powered 2025 Civic Sport Hybrid starts at $28,750.

2025 Camry XSE AWD in Heavy Metal Black. Courtesy photo

Toyota Camry

OK, so design is subjective. That being said, the only miscue on the 2025 Toyota Camry is its grille. Toyota calls it a hammerhead front. The good news is Camry buyers largely won’t see the front end while driving or parked.

So, what works well on this ninth-generation Camry? The 2025 Toyota Camry pairs the fifth-generation Toyota Hybrid System with a 2.5-liter, 4-cylinder engine and has a standard 225 net-combined horsepower on front-wheel drive and 232 horsepower on electronic on-demand all-wheel drive (AWD) equipped models. The Toyota Camry also has great fuel efficiency with a manufacturer-estimated combined 51 mpg rating on the LE FWD grade.

The Toyota Camry, for the first time on a hybrid, offers available AWD across all four grades: LE, SE, XLE and XSE. With a dedicated rear electric motor, the AWD system supplies power to the rear wheels for additional traction when needed, either in adverse weather conditions (can you say New England winters?), accelerating from a stop, or during dynamic driving around curves.

Inside, the Camry offers enhanced seat comfort. Toyota engineers achieved this by changing the shape and density of the seat cushion and by increasing the cushion length. The headrest was also softened and moved rearward to enhance seat ergonomics and ride comfort.

An important feature of the Camry is pre-collision system with pedestrian detection. It is designed to help detect a vehicle, pedestrian, bicyclist, or motorcyclist, and provide an audible/visual forward-collision warning under certain circumstances. If you don’t react, the system is designed to provide automatic emergency braking.

The 2025 Toyota Camrys has a starting Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of $28,400.

2025 Camry XSE Cockpit. Courtesy photo

Longtime West Hartford resident Keith Griffin is a veteran auto journalist whose work has been published in U.S. News & World Report, The Boston Globe and online for various New York Times companies. He is a past president of the New England Motor Press Association.

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