The Toyota Solara convertible has been given a stay of execution just weeks before its production was scheduled to end. The Solara convertible was slated to end production this month, but Toyota has extended the car’s production schedule by two years.
Steve St. Angelo, president of Toyota’s Kentucky operations, revealed the news on Monday at a seminar being held in Traverse City, Michigan. “It was a car our customers demanded. They wanted it,” St. Angelo told Automotive News. The Solara is made at Toyota’s Georgetown, Kentucky assembly plant.
It was believed that Toyota had earmarked the Solara convertible for extinction due to slow sales, but apparently demand was strong enough to warrant an extra two years of production. Toyota built 28,479 Solaras in 2007, but it remains unknown how many of those units were convertibles.
08/11, 11:49 AM
posted by:
RaineMan
A good move by Toyota. The Solara is a solid car… and ditching it would mean no convertible in the product line at all.
08/11, 11:52 AM
posted by:
jonnycat
Wow, those are pretty ****ty numbers. If a third were, and I’m being generous, convertibles, it’s less than 10,000 units / year.
08/11, 12:13 PM
posted by:
megeebee
Further proof of the failure of art education in our country. The Solara convertible is, almost without peer, the ugliest vehicle available for purchase in the US.
“….but it’s a Toyota, so it MSUT be good……right?”
08/11, 12:15 PM
posted by:
SJMURRAY
Ditto what megeebee said. I cringe every time I am assigned this car at Hertz. I hate this thing.
08/11, 12:30 PM
posted by:
neptronix
Whatever you say.. i happen to love the look of the solara, convertible included. I would own one right now if they offered a performance model. Lack of a manual transmission in the v6, and options for better handling would make this basically a sophisticated man’s tC and could have a lot of tuner appeal.. basically would make it a cheap FWD lexus.
IMHO toyota has a half and half mixture of good and bad ideas but at least they are trying to stand out somewhat.
08/11, 12:41 PM
posted by:
brassmonkey
Thank God. It’s Monday, and after reading this, I have a reason to LIVE!!
08/11, 12:42 PM
posted by:
howsmydriving
Sorry to hear about the stay of execution.
08/11, 12:47 PM
posted by:
krautninja
they shoulda axed this car went back to the drawing board and came up with a coupe to better compete with the accord/altima/g6. those 3 looks sporty and are still refined enough to be an everyday driver. The solara (and most of toyota’s line up) looks like a bulky mutated camry minus 2 doors. The first generation solara had it right, the current one…not so much
08/11, 1:12 PM
posted by:
Fletch
Years back, I bought a used ‘99 Solara V6 5MT and put a TRD S/C with smaller pulley, high flow y-pipe and race clutch/lightweight flywheel. It was great for front drive 1 wheels peels, smoking riced Civics and surprising the hell out of Mustang GT’s.
No love for current body style though, looks like a turd.
08/11, 1:35 PM
posted by:
Mugen Power
It’s funny that the convertible gets saved because of the few I’ve seen on the road, their tops were always up even when it’s beautiful outside.
08/11, 2:14 PM
posted by:
Ryegor
I am not surprised when I see an ugly car at showrooms – I am surprised when I see that somebody drives one.
08/11, 2:16 PM
posted by:
RaineMan
The Solara has neutral styling… it doesn’t turn any heads… but it’s not what I’d call ugly. Go look at the Sebring convertible… that’s ugly.
The lack of any performance goodies is certainly what killed a lot of this car’s desirability. You just can’t build a sporty coupe and leave the sportiness on the drawing board. Of course I haven’t seen the bunch of geriatrics over at Toyota turn out anything sporty since they killed the Celica GT-S… I don’t think they care at all about performance anymore. Funny though… b/c the V6 Camry is a really quick car. Upgraded suspension, body kit, rims, exhaust, & a 6-speed manual would make a sweet TRD Camry. That’ll never happen though. Even the Avalon is 300hp now… but you don’t see anyone under the age of 60 driving one of those.
08/11, 2:33 PM
posted by:
macabre
I dislike this car. I’ve always though of this one for women and old men who know nothing of automotive design.
08/11, 2:45 PM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
It’s the perfect car for empty nesters because if any of their dumbass offspring come back to roost they’ll be too embarrassed to borrow it.
08/11, 6:38 PM
posted by:
Kaizen
Toyota would have been stupid to kill Solara, especially Solara convertible. There really is nothing in the competitive market that is better than the convertible. The Sebring is crap, and no one knows about the G6 conv because GM slacked on effective advertising. And convertible makes up a significant part of Solara sales for these reasons.
08/12, 10:18 AM
posted by:
rodeo40
Why…that is one ugly-ass car
08/12, 10:48 AM
posted by:
jonnycat
I guarantee, the G6 Convertible sells more than the Solara convertible.
08/12, 11:21 AM
posted by:
global_lightning
They need a convertible Scion. Smaller, sportier, more affordable.
08/12, 1:01 PM
posted by:
inline6
The Solara makes the Monte Carlo look like an 8C Competizione.
It’s ugly, bloated, amorphous, and based on the 2002-06 Camry.
08/12, 1:08 PM
posted by:
nitinsharma1000
Its funny how people who drive this think they are driving a ‘cool’ convertible. Some prob even think its a sports car.
08/12, 1:54 PM
posted by:
ktulu
not wirth saving
08/12, 6:02 PM
posted by:
jcordero
Props to ktulu. If the Solara is not going to be redesigned, then why keep it? It’s like keeping the Buick Park Avenue because 10,000 retired (no disrespect) people said that they like the old Buick. NOT WORTH IT!