You know your market.
We know Japan.
Japan-side sourcing and export. Your market knowledge and local sales.
We are looking for established businesses that already import, prepare, register and sell Japan-origin vehicles in their own markets.
Start with a short business profile so we can see whether there may be a fit. You can save and return. No supporting documents are needed for this first stage.
Sending your profile does not approve a partnership, promise funding, reserve vehicles or authorize a shipment.
Start your initial business profile
Current application markets: United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom and Ireland. Review the partnership terms below before proceeding.
Read the partnership terms and who pays for what
Thank you for considering a partnership with DERA International.
We are looking for established businesses that already import, prepare, register and sell Japan-origin vehicles in their own markets.
DERA's role is on the Japan side. We source vehicles, coordinate the agreed Japan-side work, and arrange export and shipping within the approved program and budget. We are not trying to become the local expert in every destination country.
That is where our partners come in. You know your market, your customers, your import process, your local providers, your registration requirements and the vehicles that people actually buy. We want to combine that local institutional knowledge with DERA's Japan-side sourcing and export capability.
For an approved initial program, DERA funds the agreed vehicle-program costs within both limits: up to JPY 1,000,000 all-in per vehicle and up to JPY 3,000,000 all-in for the initial container through the agreed destination-port arrival point. The partner funds the agreed destination-side costs and completes the local work needed to make the vehicles legally ready for sale and road use.
When a vehicle is ready for the local market, the partner continues to handle local customers and the retail sale. DERA also supports the agreed marketing effort. After a completed sale, the parties reconcile the agreed documented vehicle-program expenses under the signed agreement. The remaining vehicle-program profit is then split 50/50.
We start carefully. The first step is a short business profile so we can understand who you are and whether there may be a fit. If the process continues, we will ask you to show evidence of your experience, including ten comparable completed Japan-origin vehicle transactions from the previous 24 months before qualification. After that, we can discuss the vehicles you believe will work best in your market and the economics behind them.
You do not need to finish everything at once. Your application is completed in stages, and you can return to saved work from the same account.
Submitting information does not approve a partnership, promise funding, reserve vehicles or authorize a shipment. If both sides decide to proceed, later legal and vehicle-specific approvals are required before any purchase or commitment.
We currently review applications from the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Ireland. Each market, vehicle and shipment needs its own review. Start with practical, lower-cost vehicles such as budget-fit kei trucks, vans and older Jimnys.
See the full partnership process
You can work through the application in stages. A received stage is a record of what you submitted; it is not a staff decision.
- Initial business profile — Tell us who your business is and give us a short picture of your Japan-import experience.
- Qualification evidence — If the process continues, show how your business has already imported, registered and sold comparable Japan-origin vehicles. Ten qualifying completed transactions within the previous 24 months are required before qualification.
- Market and inventory plan — Tell us which vehicles you believe you can sell, what they normally sell for, expected destination costs and how quickly you expect them to move.
- Fit and economics discussion — DERA reviews sourcing feasibility, the initial-container limits and the proposed economics. This is still not a purchase commitment.
- Local-lawyer agreement — If DERA requests the next step, your qualified local counsel prepares/reviews the required agreement for the destination jurisdiction. All required signatures and conditions must be complete before purchase or commitment.
- Specific vehicle approval — DERA may present actual candidate vehicles. You approve or reject each specific vehicle, and DERA separately approves or rejects it. Both approvals are required before purchase.
- Shipping and destination work — DERA performs the agreed Japan/export/shipping scope. Your business performs and funds the agreed destination-side work.
- Retail sale and settlement — Your business handles local customers and the sale. DERA supports the agreed marketing effort. Sale proceeds and agreed documented costs are reconciled under the signed agreement before the residual vehicle-program profit is split 50/50.
One completed container does not automatically approve another container or additional DERA funding.
Agree the costs before buying
DERA's two all-in ceilings include the approved purchase, Japan-side work, export, ocean shipping and an internal contingency through arrival at the agreed destination port. Both the per-vehicle and container ceilings must fit; they are not purchase-only allowances. Shared expenses are counted once, and unused contingency is not an expense.
Your business funds the agreed destination-side costs. Allocate unloading, discharge and terminal charges in writing. Port arrival alone does not transfer ownership or risk. Settlement order, shortfalls, losses and any marketing costs are agreed separately. Premium performance and collector stock are outside the initial budget-focused program.
Read full additional-cargo terms
Add engines or parts.
Keep the costs separate.
Our initial allocation is limited to one container per partner. Subject to available space and weight capacity, safe loading and applicable shipping/import requirements, we can consider additional engines, transmissions, parts or other agreed goods in that same container.
Your business funds 100% of the non-vehicle goods and all their associated costs. This includes any purchasing, collection, packing, testing/certificates, export coordination, incremental freight/insurance, and destination charges. They are outside the vehicle reimbursement/profit pool. DERA does not advance this money or absorb the work.
Two routes: appoint and pay your own qualified providers to supply documented, ship-ready goods; or ask DERA for case-by-case support under a separate written scope and quote. DERA’s fees and agreed third-party costs must be paid in cleared funds before DERA starts work or incurs commitments. Any further costs require approval and an advance top-up before proceeding—not repayment after vehicle sales.
Radiation tests or other checks are charged only where applicable to the goods, route, authority or carrier; this page does not assert a universal testing rule. Independent arrangements do not bypass DERA’s and the loading provider’s final acceptance, complete declarations or safe-loading requirements. No shared cost is charged twice.
Every add-on is a request until its specification, charges, payment arrangements and loading are agreed in writing. Filling in this form is not an order. Available space, item acceptance and a specific vehicle count are not guaranteed. Any further container requires a separate DERA decision.
What you will need for the later evidence stage
Bring evidence, not just a wish list.
Before contract discussion, DERA must verify 10 comparable, completed Japan-origin vehicle transactions within the previous 24 months. Connect each vehicle’s original chassis number across purchase, shipping, import, ownership, road registration and retail-sale records, and show your business’s role.
One combined file can cover multiple stages when you identify its pages. Disclosed brokers and compliance providers are acceptable; their responsibilities must be clear. Alternate documents may establish the same required facts. You may disclose incomplete evidence for initial review; this does not waive the ten-transaction requirement. If DERA requests corrections, submit a complete updated schedule in a separate follow-up. Your original submission stays unchanged.
Redact unnecessary customer names, home addresses, signatures, ID numbers and bank details. Keep chassis identifiers, dates, document type, relevant jurisdiction, restrictions and business-role evidence readable. Do not supply passwords, payment-card details or unredacted government identity documents.
Tell us how your business operates.
Save draft keeps your progress; it does not submit it for review. Changes also save automatically while you work. Wait for the saved confirmation below before leaving. Reload saved draft restores the last saved version and can replace unsaved entries in this tab.
New here? How staged onboarding works
- Start with the short business profile.
Use your DERA member account to provide the business/contact details, funding readiness and your declared comparable-transaction count. The first milestone does not ask for ten evidence files, a vehicle plan or a lawyer agreement.
- Save and return whenever you need to.
Your account draft saves while you work. Use Save draft or Save and leave, and wait for the server-confirmed saved message before closing the page. Unsaved keystrokes are not guaranteed to survive a closed tab, power loss or connection failure.
- Send each milestone deliberately.
A received initial profile is only a received version. It is not staff review, qualification, approval, funding or a shipment promise. Your progress panel shows the actual receipt, current next action, last server-confirmed save and DRAFT expiry.
- Qualification evidence comes next.
When that stage is available, document the destination-side process and ten comparable completed Japan-origin vehicle transactions from the required 24-month window. Reuse the existing private uploads and evidence mappings. A file that passed technical checks has not been verified by staff.
- Market planning opens only after genuine qualification.
If authorized DERA staff records qualification for the exact current evidence version, the existing vehicle briefs and destination economics become the next task. A received market plan is a request for discussion, not an order, reservation, funding commitment or approval of a specific vehicle.
- Agreement and trading are later gates.
No lawyer is required for the first profile or qualification-evidence milestones. Destination counsel, required signatures and mutual approval of each exact vehicle come later after fit/economics discussion and before any purchase commitment. Read the later agreement process.
Required fields are marked *. Your draft saves to your signed-in account. Files upload privately when selected; interrupted uploads resume after you reselect the same file.
Follow-up with DERA
Your original application is preserved. Replies below are received separately and do not change your original answers or receipt.
Start with the request below. Read what DERA needs, acknowledge the response privacy notice, then use the start button when it is available. The response fields match that request: an explanation, an updated transaction schedule or a proposed agreement draft. If the request is unclear, open the Partner portal and choose Messages to ask DERA.
PDF, JPEG or PNG; up to 20 MiB per file and 10 files per response. The entire application has a 200 MiB limit. Redact unnecessary personal and bank information. Files upload privately as soon as you select them. Reselect the same file to resume an interrupted upload.
Save response draft keeps this reply for later; wait for the saved confirmation before leaving. When the reply is complete and attached files have passed their checks, Submit response for review records it for DERA. Check for the response receipt in the history below. A saved draft has not been submitted.
Refresh status and file checks checks for updates. Load saved response replaces the reply in this tab with the saved version, so copy any unsaved text you want to keep first. If a submission result is uncertain, use the displayed retry action for that same response.
The later agreement stage
Start with the short business profile. If the process continues, DERA will ask for qualification evidence. A genuine qualification decision can then open the market-and-inventory discussion. You do not need to appoint or pay a lawyer for those first stages.
If DERA and your business still see a fit after the market and economics discussion, DERA may request the agreement stage. At that point, qualified counsel in the destination jurisdiction prepares or reviews the proposed partnership agreement against local law and DERA’s written commercial requirements.
The signed agreement will need to address the applicable governing law, dispute-resolution process, responsibilities, remedies and other required local terms. Destination counsel must assess local validity and enforceability, and DERA must agree to the final provisions. This page does not choose an arbitration forum, court, governing law or other legal result for a destination.
All required agreement reviews, signatures and stated conditions must be complete before DERA purchases vehicles, commits funds or arranges shipments under the partnership. A market brief is not purchase authority. Each specific vehicle also requires distinct approval by both DERA and the partner before any purchase commitment.
This describes a future gated process only. It does not form a partnership, approve funding or inventory, activate trading, or change the website Terms of Service.
A fit assessment—not an inventory commitment.
DERA reviews the business, evidence and projected economics before the later local-lawyer agreement stage. Read our agreement process.
The initial allocation is limited to one container per partner; no second container is automatically offered. Both the JPY 1,000,000 vehicle limit and JPY 3,000,000 container limit apply to the initial trial; neither is a purchase allowance, stock promise or guarantee of profit. Larger or additional allocations are considered only after satisfactory execution and settlement, under a separate decision. Extra goods require 100% partner funding and prepaid DERA support where requested.