Honda has never officially marketed its luxury brand in its home country of Japan, but that’s about to change. A U.S.-built Acura models, the Integra Type S, will be introduced on the Japanese market. The vehicles will remain left-side drive in configuration. The automaker will do the same Honda Passport TrailSport Elite
Japan recently made some regulatory changes that will facilitate the introduction of U.S.-made vehicles into the country. Last month, the country’s transport ministry streamlined the procedure for getting U.S.-spec vehicles certified for sale and use in Japan; namely, vehicles that meet American safety standards won’t need to meet some of Japan’s emissions and noise tests.
Honda does say that it will import the two models in limited numbers as in doesn’t expect to sell big numbers in the short term.
This marks the first appearance of the Acura brand in its maker’s home country, believe it or not.
The Acura Integra Type S is fitted with a 2.0L turbocharged 4-cylinder engine delivering 320 hp, and a 6-speed manual gearbox. Honda assembles the car at its plant in Marysville, Ohio. The Passport TrailSport has a 3.6L V6 engine good for 285 hp, and Honda reports a solid increase in sales of the model since its redesign for the 2026 model-year. That model is built at the company’s plant in Lincoln, Alabama.
Honda currently builds around 21,000 units of the Integra in Ohio, and some 60,000 of the Passport SUV in Alabama. The variants earmarked for export to Japan will come out of that production volume, the automaker says. Independent analysts, citing the limited popularity of left-hand-drive vehicles in Japan, estimate Honda will likely sell between 5,000 and 6,000 of the two models there altogether.
Vehicles made by Japanese automakers traveling in the direction of Japan from the U.S. is certainly a switch – according to the United Nations Comtrade data, Japanese carmakers exported around $34 billion USD worth of vehicles to the U.S. last year, while less than $1 billion worth moved the other way.