Jimny, Fronx drive Maruti Suzuki exports to new heights in Japan

The Maruti Suzuki Fronx SUVs being loaded into a ship for export at the Pipavav port.

Maruti Suzuki India has witnessed a significant boost in its export performance, with Japan standing out as the company's second-largest export market in the first quarter of FY26. This success has been largely fuelled by the strong demand for the India-manufactured Jimny and Fronx models in the Japanese market.

Maruti exported 96,972 vehicles in the April-June period of FY26, marking an impressive year-on-year (y-o-y) growth of 37.4% compared to 70,560 units in the same quarter last year.

While the industry overall saw a marginal decline of 2.1% (excluding Maruti's figures), Maruti's robust performance single-handedly pulled up the total industry export growth to 13.2% in Q1 FY26.

A senior Maruti official attributed the sustained momentum to a decade-long focus on building a strong export foundation.

"A lot of efforts have gone into the past full decade for building exports. The biggest point is the network. We have provided the network, both in terms of quality and quantity, across markets. We have launched more products in more markets. We have carried the successes and examples of those successes from India to foreign markets. Suzuki has also been kind in making their global distributors available to us," said Rahul Bharti, Senior Executive Officer, Corporate Affairs, Maruti Suzuki India, during the company's Q1 FY26 investors' call.

Highlighting the significance of Japan's growing role, Bharti added: "One big factor has been Japan. In Q1 FY26, it was the second largest export destination in our export portfolio. The Jimny and the Fronx are doing extremely well there."

Maruti's export footprint now covers 100 countries, and the company aims to further expand its reach. Looking ahead, Bharti said: "A big jump will be when we launch our first battery electric vehicle (BEV), the e Vitara, in about 100 countries, including Japan and European nations."

In July 2025, the carmaker's exports jumped 32.3% y-o-y at 31,745 units from 23,985 units in the same month last year. The growth was driven by models like the Jimny, Baleno, Swift, Fronx and Dzire.