red-book.jp

What It Is

RED Book（レッドブック） is operated by Japan’s 有限会社オートガイド. First published in 1958, it is a monthly used-car price guide aimed at professional users. The site explicitly lists its target users as the automotive industry, non-life insurance, legal professionals, government offices, and similar organizations. Its core value is estimating standard prices by combining large volumes of used-car market data with industry expertise. On May 1, 2026, its digital edition, “RED Book Digital,” will launch, marking a shift from the traditional print monthly price guide toward an online format.

Core Features and Product Format

Based on the crawled text, RED Book mainly provides used-car price information, covering categories such as 国産乗用車, 輸入乗用車, 軽自動車, and 商用車. It also provides price publication periods and samples. The print edition comes in a portable pocketbook size, and there is also a purchase entry point for the booklet version. The digital version has been announced, but the page does not disclose specific SaaS-style features such as search, filtering, historical price comparison, export, account permissions, or bulk lookup. Therefore, it should not be treated as a full enterprise software platform.

Pricing, Trial, and Integrations

The website states that subscription fees will be revised starting with the February 2025 issue and provides a link to the new price list, but the crawled text does not include exact amounts. Its business model appears to be primarily subscription-based, with both print and digital versions available. There is no visible information about a free plan, trial period, payment methods, third-party system integrations, APIs, or developer support. There is also no explanation of team collaboration, role-based permissions, data security, or compliance.

Pros and Cons

Its strengths are its long history, clear professional positioning, and strong relevance to use cases such as vehicle valuation, insurance claims, legal disputes, and government reference. For organizations that need a standard pricing benchmark for used cars in Japan, it has clear value. The drawbacks are that publicly available information is limited, the capabilities of the digital version are not yet transparent, and it lacks the permissions, integrations, APIs, and security/compliance information commonly expected from modern SaaS products. Buyers should make further inquiries before procurement.

Who It’s For and Access from China

RED Book is better suited to car dealers, insurance companies, law firms, appraisal organizations, and government-related departments that handle Japanese vehicle pricing. If a Chinese company is involved in importing used cars from Japan, cross-border insurance, or vehicle valuation, it may serve as one reference data source. The crawled content does not make it possible to assess access from China, and payment methods are not disclosed. If the main focus is China’s used-car market, local valuation and vehicle-condition data services should be compared first.