Suzuki Overtakes Honda as Japan's No. 2 Automaker as India Sales Surge

India lifts Suzuki past Honda and Nissan

Suzuki sold a record 1,824,006 vehicles worldwide in April through September 2026, up 19.9% from a year earlier, moving from fourth to second among Japanese automakers. The company overtook both Honda and Nissan as new models and an expanding sales network strengthened its position in India.

The figures announced on October 29 put Suzuki 162,437 vehicles ahead of Honda, whose global sales fell 4% to 1,661,569. Toyota remained comfortably in first place, selling 5,059,014 Toyota and Lexus vehicles, although that was down 4% from the same six months of 2025.

Suzuki's advance came during a weaker period for Japan's biggest vehicle manufacturers. Combined global sales at eight major automakers fell 1.3% to 11.83 million vehicles. Four recorded declines, with China weighing heavily on Toyota, Honda and Nissan.

India provided Suzuki with a different growth engine. The company holds about 40% of the country's passenger car market, and strong demand for its sport utility vehicles helped lift sales. Suzuki also achieved records for the fiscal first half in Latin America and Africa, spreading its growth beyond its largest overseas market.

A record changes the Japanese sales ranking

Suzuki's increase of almost one fifth was much faster than the growth recorded by the other Japanese manufacturers whose sales rose. Mazda gained 1.2%, Daihatsu 0.5% and Subaru 3.4%. Suzuki's second place appears to be its highest position for a fiscal first half.

The ranking measures vehicles sold worldwide by Japanese manufacturers during the six months, rather than sales within Japan. Toyota still sold about 2.8 times as many vehicles as Suzuki, using their respective totals of 5,059,014 and 1,824,006.

The full sales order among the eight companies shows how sharply their performances diverged:

• Toyota and Lexus: 5,059,014 vehicles, down 4%.
• Suzuki: 1,824,006 vehicles, up 19.9%.
• Honda: 1,661,569 vehicles, down 4%.
• Nissan: 1,355,233 vehicles, down 11.8%.
• Mazda: 616,776 vehicles, up 1.2%.
• Daihatsu: 494,759 vehicles, up 0.5%.
• Subaru: 470,379 vehicles, up 3.4%.
• Mitsubishi Motors: 356,887 vehicles, down 7%.

A tally covering seven manufacturers put combined sales at 11.66 million, down 1.4%, compared with the eight company total of 11.83 million, down 1.3%. The published summaries do not explain how the seven company figure was compiled.

Maruti Suzuki turns new models into higher sales

Maruti Suzuki India, Suzuki's Indian subsidiary, sold a record 696,654 vehicles in the July through September quarter, an increase of 26.5% from a year earlier. Successive model launches helped the company attract buyers in a market where it already has an extensive presence.

SUV demand was a central part of Suzuki's growth in India. Utility vehicle sales at Maruti Suzuki increased 52%, while its domestic sales rose 33.6%. A reduction in India's Goods and Services Tax lowered effective vehicle prices, and festive demand gave buyers another reason to visit dealerships.

Maruti Suzuki's domestic market share rose 2.2 percentage points to 40.8%. That means it accounted for roughly four out of every 10 passenger vehicles sold in its home market during the reported period.

Dealer inventory, including vehicles being transported to dealerships, stood at 17 days' worth of sales. This measure compares the number of vehicles in the distribution network with the pace at which customers are buying them. It gives a more practical view of stock levels than a vehicle count alone.

Higher revenue comes with pressure on profit

Maruti Suzuki's quarterly revenue rose 26% to 533.4 billion rupees, closely matching its 26.5% increase in vehicle sales. More vehicles leaving dealerships therefore translated into a substantial increase in money coming into the business.

Rising commodity costs squeezed the benefit. The company's EBITDA margin fell 3.08 percentage points to 8.9%, as it could not fully absorb higher input costs. EBITDA means earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, a measure used to compare operating earnings before several financing and accounting expenses.

The margin figures mean Maruti Suzuki retained about 8.9 rupees in EBITDA for every 100 rupees of revenue, compared with about 11.98 rupees a year earlier. Its sales record therefore arrived alongside a tougher cost environment.

For Suzuki, maintaining momentum involves two tasks at once: supplying vehicles that Indian buyers want and managing the cost of producing them. The quarter shows why a higher sales ranking and stronger revenue can accompany a lower operating earnings margin.

China pulls Toyota, Honda and Nissan lower

Toyota's sales in China fell 25.1% during the six months. Honda's sales there halved, while Nissan's decline exceeded 40% and was also described as roughly half. Those losses helped drive the weaker global results at all three companies.

Chinese manufacturers provided strong competition in electric vehicles. Higher gasoline prices associated with instability in the Middle East also supported the shift toward electric vehicles, adding pressure on Japanese brands with substantial sales of gasoline vehicles and hybrids.

Toyota described weakness across China's market, with gasoline vehicles and hybrids particularly affected. A hybrid combines a combustion engine with electric propulsion, reducing fuel use while retaining a need for gasoline.

China and India consequently pulled the Japanese sales ranking in different directions. Suzuki's large Indian business grew quickly enough to move it past two rivals whose Chinese operations were contracting. Its record sales in Latin America and Africa provided further support.

Honda's factory figures show the regional divide

Honda's September production release puts its worldwide automobile output at 1,597,121 vehicles for April through September 2026, down 6.6% from 1,709,292 a year earlier. Production outside Japan fell 8.3% to 1,259,762 vehicles.

The company's Chinese factories produced 131,716 vehicles, compared with 325,742 in the same period of 2025. That was a decline of 59.6%, or 194,026 vehicles. Across Asia, Honda's production fell 38% to 319,288.

North America moved in the opposite direction. Honda's output there rose 7.6% to 871,841 vehicles, including 543,534 in the United States, where production increased 10.3%. The North American gain offset part of the contraction in Asia.

Honda's production in Japan edged up 0.4% to 337,359 vehicles. Its Japanese sales rose 3.6% to 303,539, with registered vehicle sales increasing 9.2% while sales of mini vehicles fell 2.8%. Mini vehicles are Japan's small vehicle category, commonly known as kei cars.

September was Honda's eighth consecutive month of declining worldwide production and its ninth consecutive month of falling output outside Japan. The six month figures also marked its third consecutive fiscal first half with lower global production.

Toyota keeps a large lead despite overseas weakness

Toyota's global sales and production both declined in a fiscal first half for the first time in two years. Its worldwide output fell 1.9% to 4,895,406 vehicles, alongside the 4% decline in Toyota and Lexus sales.

The overseas business accounted for the pressure. Toyota's sales outside Japan fell 6.5% to 4,256,216 vehicles, while overseas production dropped 5.6% to 3,215,352. Its sales in China were much weaker than those in its other major markets.

North American sales rose 1.8%, supported by demand for hybrids, while European sales increased 1.4%. The regional figures show that hybrids continued to attract buyers in those markets even as Toyota faced a difficult environment in China.

Toyota's lead over Suzuki remained 3,235,008 vehicles for the six months. The major change in the ranking was therefore the contest immediately below Toyota, where Suzuki's expansion coincided with falling sales at Honda and Nissan.

India's sales growth follows a wider investment shift

Japanese manufacturers had already been committing more money to India before Suzuki reached second place. Plans detailed in November 2025 included about $11 billion in investment by Toyota and Suzuki, while Honda was preparing to build and export an electric model from India.

The India factory expansion plans pointed toward a larger role for the country in supplying overseas markets as well as Indian buyers. Japanese direct investment in India's transport sector reached about 294 billion yen in 2024, more than seven times its 2021 level. Investment in China's transport sector was roughly 46 billion yen in 2024.

India's transport sector therefore attracted more than six times as much Japanese direct investment as China's that year. The earlier figures also showed Indian passenger vehicle exports growing about 15%, compared with domestic sales growth of around 2%.

Suzuki's latest results fit that shift toward India, although its current sales performance and the manufacturers' longer investment plans cover different periods. For Indian dealerships, the immediate change is higher sales activity. For manufacturers, the investment plans involve expanding the capacity to serve both local and overseas customers.

The six months in perspective

Japan's eight major automakers produced 11.83 million vehicles worldwide during April through September, down 0.9%. Production within Japan rose 2.4% to 3.97 million, accounting for roughly one third of their combined worldwide output.

Combined overseas sales fell 2.6%. Suzuki's advance therefore stood out against declining international sales across the group, rather than a broad expansion that lifted every Japanese manufacturer.

The key dates show how the ranking developed:

• November 5, 2025: Japanese automakers' investment plans highlighted India's growing role as a manufacturing and export base.
• April through September 2026: Suzuki's global sales rose 19.9% to a record for a fiscal first half.
• July through September 2026: Maruti Suzuki sold a quarterly record of 696,654 vehicles, while rising costs reduced its EBITDA margin.
• October 29, 2026: Automakers released results placing Suzuki second among Japanese manufacturers by global vehicle sales.

Key Points

• Suzuki sold 1,824,006 vehicles worldwide, overtaking Honda and Nissan to rank second among Japanese automakers.
• Toyota remained first with 5,059,014 Toyota and Lexus sales, down 4%.
• India drove Suzuki's growth, with record fiscal first half sales also achieved in Latin America and Africa.
• Maruti Suzuki's quarterly sales rose 26.5%, but its EBITDA margin fell to 8.9% as commodity costs increased.
• Honda's global production fell 6.6%, with a steep decline in China partly offset by growth in North America.
• Combined global sales at eight major Japanese automakers fell 1.3% to 11.83 million vehicles.