In what can only be described as an international joyride, Maruti Suzuki’s Fronx has officially become the fastest SUV from India to be shipped abroad 1 lakh times — and no, we’re not counting WhatsApp forwards. The homegrown compact SUV raced to this milestone in just 25 months, leaving customs officers across continents with a serious case of déjà vu.
Launched in April 2023, the Fronx didn’t waste time flexing its compact muscles. Straight out of Maruti’s Gujarat facility — which now seems less like a plant and more like an SUV cannon — the Fronx took off to destinations including Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and, perhaps most surprisingly, Japan, where it’s now rubbing shoulders with sushi, samurai and Suzuki’s ancestral home.
Hisashi Takeuchi, MD & CEO of Maruti Suzuki, was far more composed (and definitely more diplomatic), stating:
“Fronx is delighting customers all over the world. This success reinforces our ‘Make in India’ spirit and reflects our commitment to being India’s export champion.”
And champion they are. Maruti Suzuki has been India’s #1 passenger vehicle exporter for four years straight, and with over 96,000 cars exported in Q1 FY25-26 alone, they now command a record 47% share of India’s PV export pie — which, we assume, is very well-baked.
In FY 2024-25, the company shipped out a whopping 3.3 lakh cars, with the Fronx, Jimny, Baleno, Swift, and Dzire leading the charge. Clearly, it’s not just domestic traffic jams these cars are contributing to.
With 17 models shipped to nearly 100 countries, Maruti’s export playbook seems to include everyone — from the sand dunes of Saudi Arabia to the serene suburbs of South Africa.
So next time you see a Fronx in a foreign land, remember — it’s not lost, it’s just well-travelled.
