The Maruti Jimny is powered by the familiar 1.5-liter naturally aspirated petrol engine and benefits from a 4WD system
Maruti Jimny has been in the news for a while now. The little off-roader which has been enjoying huge demand in the international markets is now being assembled in India out of CKD kits sourced from Japan. However, for now, the locally built units are destined only for export markets with the first batch of 184 units shipped to South America last month.
Maruti Jimny 5 Door
During earlier media interactions, Maruti Suzuki’s top officials had hinted that the cost structure of the existing 3-door version does not justify the volumes and hence may not be introduced in India. Shortly after, several reports poured in claiming that a longer 5-door version is under development.
Now, it is this version that has been spied on test for the first time. Spotted in Europe, the Suzuki Jimny LWB or Long Wheel Base variant in the spy shots here, is what could become the Maruti Jimny 5 door SUV of the future.
However, the Maruti Jimny 5-door is not expected to be ready anytime soon. So, the Indian SUV fans have to wait for over a year to see the eagerly anticipated Jimny hit our roads.
Maruti Jimny 3 Door For India?
Rumors suggest that Maruti could be launching the 3 door variant of the off-roader later this year! It is already being assembled in India so Maruti may as well introduce it in the domestic market as a lifestyle product rather than a volume generator.
If at all the automaker has changed its mind about launching the 3-door variant in India, it is possibly because of the magnitude of response the new Mahindra Thar has generated despite being priced significantly higher than its predecessor.
Maruti Jimny at a glance
The Jimny is a spiritual successor to the iconic off-roader which Indians know as the Gypsy. With a compact foot print, high ground clearance, simple boxy styling and 4WD, the latest iteration of Suzuki’s famed SUV stands true to its ancestors.
With the whole world developing soft corner for small SUVs, it is not surprising that the Jimny is selling like hot cakes in the markets where it has been already launched. In fact, most of Suzuki’s subsidiaries including its European division had to close bookings to prevent the waiting period from exceeding a year.
Given a huge amount of order international order backlogs, it would be interesting to see how Maruti Suzuki manages to cater to the local demand if the vehicle is launched in our market. Considering the vehicle’s popularity, we expect several thousand bookings in a relatively short period of time.
Ideally, Maruti should increase the local content not only to keep the pricing competitive but also to prevent any sourcing related bottlenecks that may affect the production rate. There is no denying that Maruti could use a second product in the highly competitive sub-4m SUV segment.
