Suzuki Has Sold HOW MANY Of These Tiny Minivans In Japan?

This is the Suzuki Every. It’s a Kei car – or van, or truck – previously known as the Carry. It’s hardly any bigger than a Smart car, but has a lot more space. And Suzuki sells them by the… well, by the truckload.

In fact, just in Japan (which is the model’s main market), Suzuki has sold three million of them. That includes every iteration of the breed, in numerous body-styles, since the first generation was launched back in 1964.

Now three million isn’t enough to rank the Every (and Carry) among the biggest-selling vehicles in the world. Toyota has sold over 40 million Corollas in roughly the same timespan, but that model has a far wider appeal, and that figure was achieved around the world – not just in Japan.

But consider, for reference, that Porsche has “only” sold a million 911s, and that’s been its most prolific model line. Mercury never sold that many of the Grand Marquis (its most popular model) in its entire history. Nor did Volvo sell that many of the 200 Series, Land Rover of the Defender, Lincoln of the Town Car, or Smart (to use that comparison again) of the Fortwo. And those were all their manufacturers most popular lines, too.

What’s even more impressive is how rapidly Suzuki has ramped up production over the decades. It took the company 27 years (from 1964 to 1991) to reach its millionth Carry sold in Japan, but just 15 years more (in 2006) to sell its second millionth, and now it’s taken just a dozen more years to reach the third. At the rate which Suzuki now produces the Every, it rank as the top-selling automaker in the Japanese Domestic Market – particularly in the light commercial vehicle class. Which only goes to show that while Suzuki may have withdrawn from the North American market for new cars, it’s still a big player in Japan.