America is a global magnet for JDM cars
EYE-WATERING PRICES paid for Japanese performance cars at online auction, the popularity of the modified car scene and the demand for anything connected with The Fast and The Furious franchise: America is obsessed by JDM cars. Now, thanks to shipping data analysis, the scale of that passion can be quantified.
Hagerty tracked all cars over three years old (to avoid new car delivery) shipped in and out of the United States, going back to 2010. The result is fascinating: of the top ten models currently being shipped into America, eight are Japanese cars and one – the Nissan Skyline R33 GT-R – is being shipped in monthly quantities nearly double that of the car in second place – the Toyota Land Cruiser FJ80.
Until December 2020, the most shipped model was the R33’s predecessor, the Skyline R32 GT-R, and over the whole 14-year period this was the most numerous model imported to the US, including being the most-imported car from Japan (3408), Germany (70), the UK (67) and Australia (165).
Further down the top ten monthly imports are the standard versions of the R32 and R33, plus the Toyota Supra A80. Other than being cool, Japanese and high-performance, these cars also have another key characteristic: the models are all over 25 years old. That means they can be imported and used in the US without being modified to current safety and emission standards, something almost impossible to backdate. Plus, like many recent trends in the motoring world, Covid seemed to spark this flurry of imports: until July 2020, Germany had been dominant as the country of origin of older vehicle imports into the US. Since then, Japan has taken over and, in October 2023
