The Suzuki Jimny is one of those vehicles that has made headlines in India for years now. Every few months there is a publication or two that claim that the Jimny is launching in India and everyone goes in a tizzy including Maruti Suzuki who have never ever claimed that they are launching it here! In fact, if MotorScribes were to give out awards, the Jimny would get the trophy for being the most launched vehicle in India! Alright, jokes apart, here’s the truth about the Jimny and what you need to know about its Indian future.
What Maruti Suzuki has to OFFICIALLY say about the Jimny
Speaking about the Suzuki Jimny, Mr. Kenichi Ayukawa, Managing Director & CEO, Maruti Suzuki India Limited said, “Suzuki Jimny with its compact design and superb off-road capabilities is an engineering marvel and speaks volumes about Suzuki’s engineering capabilities. Masterfully designed to ensure reliable driving and ease of handling, Suzuki Jimny is a favourite amongst adventure enthusiasts. Jimny has been developed basis thorough research, assessing the expectations and requirements of professional users. The vehicle has been showcased at Auto Expo to assess response of the Indian consumers to the product.”
Suzuki Jimny – What you need to know
Firstly, the Jimny has been showcased at the Auto Expo to assess the response of Indian customers. What does that mean? Well, every now and then, manufacturers like to test waters before they go ahead and bring a product into a particular market. Now, the Jimny on the face of it is a no-brainer for India, however the challenge is in the costing of the product. To bring it in at the said specifications that it is sold in globally would actually work out to be too costly. Manufacturing it in India is always an option, but then again that would not necessarily be cheap either. By testing the waters like this, all we as enthusiasts can hope for is that Maruti Suzuki finds a solution to offer the Jimny in an INR 10-13 lakh range which would be feasible, but then again, it all boils down to the maths of it all, so the official statement remains – the Jimny isn’t coming to India for now.
As a product, the fourth generation Jimny is touted to be the world’s toughest compact off-roader. With over 50 years of legacy, it comes as no surprise that it has such a fan following globally and considering the way it looks, who wouldn’t want one in their garage!
Built as a true-off roader, the compact Jimny offers excellent manoeuvrability and is built on a ladder frame to ensure it has that robust build to handle the rough stuff. The model on display is powered by a 1.5 litre petrol motor that delivers 100 PS of power and 130 Nm of torque. It gets a low range transfer gear, 3-link rigid axle suspension, 4WD with ALL GRIP PRO technology and can literally go just about anywhere! Despite that, it is touted to be rather comfortable and offer good on-road mannerisms as well.