- Suzuki builds several popular models in India, including the five-door Jimny Nomade.
- In April, the automaker also started importing the subcompact Fronx from India to Japan.
- From January to April, 35,269 vehicles from Japanese brands were imported into Japan.
Japan has an incredibly strong local car market, and while most of the new cars sold there are built locally, the country does import thousands of vehicles every year. Contrary to what most people think, including some policy officials from the Trump administration, Japan has maintained a zero-tariff policy on imported vehicles since 1978.
But here’s another surprise that might actually throw you off: in April, it was actually a Japanese brand that imported more vehicles than any other carmaker. Wrap your head around that one.
Read: Suzuki’s 4-Door Jimny Nomade Finally Launches In Japan
The company in question is Suzuki. While it’s one of the nation’s most recognized brands, it actually manufactures several models in India and then ships them back to Japan. One of the standout imports is the five-door Jimny Nomade, which is proving to be particularly popular. In April, Suzuki imported 3,990 vehicles into Japan, surpassing the 3,202 units imported by Mercedes-Benz and the 2,575 vehicles imported by BMW.
As you can tell, the Jimny Nomade is largely responsible for this surge. Nikkei Asia understands that Suzuki received roughly 50,000 orders for the five-door from Japan in just four days, despite the carmaker having only forecast monthly sales of 1,200 units.
In addition to starting Indian exports of the five-door Jimny to Japan in April, Suzuki also imports the Fronx from India. Suzuki believes the Fronx can be a hugely important global model for it and plans to sell it in more than 70 countries.
Suzuki has set ambitious goals for its Indian operations, aiming to ramp up annual production there to 4 million units by 2031. To make that happen, the company plans to invest $8.3 billion in its Indian production facilities. With this expanded capacity, Suzuki hopes to solidify India as a critical hub for global markets, including Japan, Europe, and Africa.
This isn’t the only Japanese carmaker importing vehicles into its home market. Between January and April, Honda imported 16,720 vehicles into Japan. Many of these were for the WR-V compact SUV, which it builds in India. In total, 35,269 vehicles from Japanese brands were imported into Japan during the first four months of the year, representing a 33% year-on-year increase.
It’s clear that while Japan’s domestic market remains strong, its automakers are increasingly looking beyond their borders to stay competitive
