The Toyota Camry, An Indian American Classic

Toyotas are efficient, reliable, and affordable. But for a generation of Indian immigrants, one of its models means so much more.

IMG 1469
Shamla Shankar with her Toyota Camry (Courtesy of Shamla Shankar)

Ayesha Le Breton

.

February 27, 2024

.

9 min

For fintech investor Sheel Mohnot, the Toyota Camry was a regular sighting at his temple in Monroeville, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. “Growing up and going to the temple, just every second car was a Camry,” he recalled. Mohnot has since relocated to San Francisco, where one out of every three cars outside the Jain temple in Milpitas, northern California, is a Camry. 

In 2020, he tweeted, “How many Indian American American stereotypes do you see in this one photo?” The photo was of a navy Camry with a license plate that read “HINDI” and a decal on the bumper declaring “proud parents of Parth Singh Parihar perfect SAT score - 2400.” 

The Toyota Camry has been on the scene since 1983, dominating the U.S. automobile market as the best-selling sedan since 1997 (except for 2001, when the Honda Accord briefly took the mantle). But more than anything else, the car has become synonymous with Indian Americans.

Join today to read the full story.

or

Already a subscriber? Log in