Low-priced Made-in-India Honda WR-V (Elevate) SUV Now The Best-selling Car Import In Japan

Low-priced Made-in-India Honda Elevate SUV now the best-selling car import in home country of Japan.

The Honda Elevate first hit Indian showrooms last August with a starting price of 1.191 million rupees ($14,300).

It debuted in Japan as the WR-V in March 2024, becoming the first Honda model to be made in India and sold in Japan.

Lack of import duties played into the decision to ship the Elevate SUV from India to Japan.

Honda Motor’s new made-in-India Honda Elevate compact SUV has become a hit in its home country of Japan, thanks to its low sticker price of around 2.1 million yen ($13,200), including tax.

The Elevate, which hit Indian showrooms last August at 1.191 million rupees ($14,300), debuted in Japan as the Honda WR-V in March 2024, becoming the first Honda model to be made in India and sold in Japan.

Since its arrival in Japan, Honda had been crowned the country’s top imported vehicle seller in April and May, beating out Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volkswagen and all other global nameplates.

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Per Nikkei Asia, the number of imported Honda car registrations reached 3,472 in April and 4,204 in May, according to statistics from the Japan Automobile Importers Association.

“Honda’s motto is that we provide a good product at a fair price,” the leader of the WR-V (winsome runabout vehicle) development team, Munetsugu Kaneko, told Nikkei Asia.

Kaneko also revealed the lack of import duties also played into the decision to ship the Elevate SUV from India to Japan.

“There is no tax when we import a car from India,” Kaneko told Nikkie Asia, citing an economic partnership agreement between Japan and India.

Kaneko said the team set the price range in advance so it could target Japanese drivers in their mid-20s to mid-30s. “I thought it would not attract [these customers] if the price was not reasonable,” he said.

Source Credit : Nikkei Asia

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