Fronx and Jimny 5-Door shipments to Japan power Maruti Suzuki export growth story

Maruti Suzuki continues to expand its lead over Hyundai Motor India in passenger vehicle exports. As per the latest industry exports data released by SIAM for the first 10 months of the current fiscal, Maruti Suzuki has shipped 272,423 units, up 20% YoY, and is ahead of Hyundai Motor India (136,886 PVs) by 135,537 units at the end of January 2025. What has helped power Maruti Suzuki’s exports is the strong export demand for two of its SUVs – the Fronx and Jimny – mainly from Suzuki Motor Corp, Japan.

Maruti Suzuki’s last 10-month exports comprise 134,033 cars (down 17% YoY), 131,170 UVs (up 131% YoY) and 7,220 vans (up 17% YoY). Its total exports (272,423 PVs), with two months left to go in FY2025, are already 97% of its record export sales of 280,712 units in FY2024, which means that India’s No. 1 car, SUV and MPV manufacturer is well set to retain the title of ‘India’s No. 1 PV exporter’ for the fourth fiscal year in a row. Maruti Suzuki, which currently has a 43% PV export market share, is likely to wrap up FY2025 with best-ever exports of around 300,000 units.

The company, which exports its vehicles to nearly 100 countries and sees Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East as its key markets, has the Fronx and the Jimny 5-Door 'Nomade' as the latest to join its export portfolio.

The first Fronx export consignment of 1,600 units was shipped to Japan from the Pipavav Port on August 13, 2024.  

Fronx is Maruti Suzuki's No. 1 export model in current fiscal
Exports of the made-in-India Fronx, which rolls out of the Gujarat plant, first kicked off in July 2023 to markets like Latin America, Middle East, and Africa. A year later, Maruti Suzuki commenced export of the Fronx to Japan.

On August 13, 2024, the first consignment of over 1,600 SUVs was shipped from Pipavav Port to Suzuki Motor Corp in Japan, making the Fronx the first SUV from the Indian OEM to be launched in Japan and the second made-in-India model for the Japanese market after the Baleno hatchback in 2016. Like the Fronx it sells in other export markets, the Fronx for Japan is powered by a 1.5-litre petrol engine equipped with mild hybrid tech which is not available in the Indian market. Also, unlike other export destinations, where the Fronx is sold only with the FWD option, the Fronx for Japan gets Suzuki’s AllGrip Select AWD technology.

Smart marketing has also helped develop demand for the Fronx. Ahead of the SUV’s launch in its home market, Suzuki Motor Corp displayed the made-in-India SUV at its popular Shinkansen or Bullet Train stations / network that connect the Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka.

For the April-December 2024 period, when Maruti Suzuki exported 245,642 passenger vehicles, the Fronx with 48,491 units accounted for the highest share of 20%. The YoY growth is a stupendous 426% on a low year-ago base of 9,221 units, clearly pointing to Japan being the growth accelerator this the Fronx’s exports. Following a strong market response, it is understood that the Fronx currently has a three-month waiting period in the Japanese market.

The massive customer demand in Japan for the made-in-India Jimny Nomade, which received 50,000 bookings in just 4 days, has seen Suzuki Motor Corp temporarily halt bookings. 

Huge demand for Jimny Nomade in Japan
As regards the Jimny SUV, from November 2020, Maruti Suzuki had been producing the three-door model exclusively for export to both left- and right-hand-drive markets in Africa and the Middle East from its mother plant in Gurgaon, Haryana.

Three years later, in October 2023, three months after it launched the Jimny 5-Door 4WD SUV in the domestic market, the company began exporting it to Latin America, Middle East, and Africa and received a strong market response from Mexico, Australia and South Africa.

The made-in-India Jimny 5-Door’s exports received a strong growth accelerator when on January 30, 2025, Suzuki Motor Corp unveiled the model in Japan as the ‘Nomade’ ahead of the planned official launch on April 3.

The massive customer demand in Japan for the Jimny 5-door has taken Suzuki Motor Corp by surprise. In just four days after bookings opened, the company received over 50,000 pre-orders and has been compelled to temporarily halt bookings for this made-in-India model, the first-ever five-door avatar of the legendary off-roader.

Between April and December 2024, Maruti Suzuki has exported 38,716 Jimny SUVs, up 295% YoY on a low-year-ago base (similar to the Fronx). Here too, Japan is the growth driver in the recent months and all to Maruti Suzuki’s gain.

The Fronx and Jimny combined exports at 87,207 units constitute 35% of Maruti Suzuki’s total exports of 245,642 units in the first nine months of FY2025, and 74% of the 118,264 utility vehicles Maruti Suzuki has exported in April-December 2024. 

Other Maruti models with strong export demand in the current fiscal include the Baleno, Swift, S-Presso and Celerio hatchbacks, the Dzire sedan along with the Grand Vitara midsize SUV and the Ertiga MPV.

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