FY2025, with 361,160 made-in-India utility vehicles shipped to overseas markets, was the best-ever fiscal for UV exports. What helped was the massive demand from Japan for the Maruti Fronx compact SUV and the Jimny, which sees them at the top of the utility vehicle export chart, along with the Honda Elevate midsize SUV.
10 May 2025 | 422 Views | By Ajit Dalvi
Demand for made-in-India vehicles has been on the upswing and while the official passenger vehicle and utility vehicle (UV) wholesales stats for April 2025 have yet to be released, it's worth looking at the export numbers for the recently ended FY2025.
Last fiscal was a record-setting fiscal for the Indian ...
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Demand for made-in-India vehicles has been on the upswing and while the official passenger vehicle and utility vehicle (UV) wholesales stats for April 2025 have yet to be released, it's worth looking at the export numbers for the recently ended FY2025.
Last fiscal was a record-setting fiscal for the Indian utility vehicle industry which has 80-odd mass-market models on sale. Not only did it achieve best-ever domestic market sales of 2.79 million units, up 11% YoY, but it has also achieved its best-ever exports of made-in-India SUVs and MPVs to date. FY2025’s UV exports of 362,160 units, an increase of 54% YoY (FY2023: 234,720 UVs) is the best score as yet for overseas shipments to date.
FY2025’s performance translates into export of an additional 127,440 units YoY, a good number of which can be attributed to strong demand emanating from Japan for Maruti Suzuki’s Fronx and Jimny, and Honda Cars India’s Elevate.
Maruti Suzuki, with best-ever exports of 330,081 passenger vehicles in FY2025, ensured it remained India’s No. 1 car and SUV exporter for the fourth fiscal in a row (see decadal data table for UV exports and OEM-wise exports for FY2025 below). What helped was Maruti Suzuki doubling its UV exports to 157,000 units from 77,927 units in FY2025.
It’s a similar scenario for Honda Cars India, which exported 60,229 PVs including 45,167 UVs, giving it the No. 2 rank in UV exports and No. 4 in PV exports. Nissan Motor India too did well – the 29,155 Magnites exported propelling it to No. 3 position.
MARUTI FRONX IS NO. 1 MADE-IN-INDIA EXPORT MODEL, JIMNY NO. 2
The Maruti Fronx is the new made-in-India export model, both in passenger vehicles as well as in the UV segment. At 69,133 units, the premium compact SUV saw massive 364% YoY growth (FY2024: 14,887 units) and beat the Hyundai Verna sedan (52,615 units, down 5%) to the title.
FY2025 sees the Fronx jump five ranks to be the new No. 1 exported UV. What accelerated Fronx exports was demand from Japan. On August 13, 2024, the first consignment of 1,600 Fronx 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. Also, unlike other export destinations, where the Fronx is sold only with the FWD option, the Fronx for Japan gets Suzuki’s AllGrid 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 Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka.
In the domestic market too, the Fronx was an outlier with 166,216 units and 23% YoY growth, unlike the Maruti Jimny which sold 8,740 units, down by a sharp 49% YoY (FY2024: 17,009 units) in India but clocked a handsome 116% YoY increase in exports – 47,982 units (FY2024: 22,191 units). From November 2020, Maruti Suzuki had been producing the three-door Jimny 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.
It’s a similar scenario for the Honda Elevate, the third highest-selling export UV with 45,167 units, up 340% YoY (FY2024: 10,273 units). In FY2025, the Elevate has moved up all of seven ranks from No. 10 in FY2024. Domestic market sales of this midsize SUV at 22,321 units were down 34% YoY (FY2024: 33,642 units). The big boost for the Elevate exports comes from Japan, where it is sold as the made-in-India WR-V. Honda India began selling the Elevate in its home market in August 2023. The Elevate was the No. 1 Honda export in FY2025, ahead of the City sedan (14,099 units).
At No. 5 is the Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder midsize SUV, which was Toyota Kirloskar Motor’s second best-selling product after the Innova MPV in the domestic market. At 27,623 units exported, the Hyryder registered strong 59% YoY growth in exports (FY2024: 17,368 units).
The Maruti Grand Vitara midsize SUV is ranked sixth on the export UV chart. At 20,305 units exported, demand for this model was down 13% (FY2024: 23,362 units). As a result, the Grand Vitara’s ranking goes down four ranks from No. 2 in FY2024.
The Maruti Ertiga, with 18,426 units and 14% growth, is the first of the two MPVs in this Top 15 export UVs list. Ranked No. 7, it is down two positions from No. 5 in FY2024.
The Volkswagen Taigun midsize SUV, with exports of 14,903 units and 18% YoY growth (FY2024: 12,621 units), drives in at No. 8, one rank down year on year.
The Kia Sonet compact SUV, which was Kia India’s best-selling model in the domestic market in FY2025, has seen a sharp decline in its exports. At 13,762 units and down 55% YoY (FY2024: 30,574 units), Kia shipped 16,812 fewer Sonets overseas last fiscal. This performance sees the Sonet’s export ranking plunge to No. 9 from being the best-selling export UV in FY2024.
No. 10 and No. 11 UV exports models are both Hyundais and both have seen their export sales decline. While the flagship Hyundai Alcazar midsize SUV clocked exports of 9,129 units in FY2025, down 16%, the Venue compact SUV, with 8,609 units, is down by 31% YoY, dropping three ranks from No. 8 in FY2024.
The Kia Carens, the second MPV is this listing, sold 8,148 units, down 4% YoY. Nevertheless, the Carens retains the 12th position it had in FY2024.
The Mahindra XUV 3XO compact SUV, which in its first year has been a key growth accelerator for M&M, enters the Top 15 UV export model chart for the first time with 6,821 units.
Seven hundred and seven units behind the XUV 3XO is the Hyundai Exter compact SUV with 6,114 units.
The Mahindra XUV700, flagship model for M&M, wraps up the Top 15 Export UV list for FY2025 with 5,211 units, up 28% YoY (FY2024: 4,076 units).
Vehicle category-wise, this Top 15 list contains seven compact SUVs, six midsize SUVs and two MPVs. OEM-wise, Maruti Suzuki has four models (Fronx, Jimny, Grand Vitara and Ertiga), Hyundai has three (Alcazar, Venue and Exter), Kia (Sonet and Carens) and Mahindra (XUV 3XO and XUV700) two each, while Honda (Elevate), Nissan (Magnite), Toyota (Urban Cruiser Hyryder) and Volkswagen (Taigun) have one each.