The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India Limited recently announced that its dedicated off-roader the Jimny five-door which was unveiled at the 2023 Auto Expo has now received over 16,500 bookings so far. The SUV was unveiled on January 12 and the reservations commenced on the same day as well. On average, the company is steadily receiving over 700 bookings every day the Jimny and the craze for this lifestyle off-roader does not seem to slow down. Just a few days it was announced that the SUV has crossed the 15,000 bookings mark.
Maruti Suzuki seems to be enjoying the demand of the Jimny as it was anticipated by them that it would become a hit in the country and to their credit, it has proved itself. The Jimny unveiled in India is the five-door iteration of the three-door Jimny that Maruti Suzuki introduced internationally back in 2018. The model on the outside and on the inside is pretty much identical except for the addition of a longer wheelbase and two extra doors in the middle.
The Jimny boasts a boxy exterior and features a styling that is not very common with Maruti Suzuki’s other products. It has been purpose built for off-road usage and features the company’s proprietary AllGrip Pro system, which includes 2H, 4H, and 4L low-range transfer gear.
Dimensionally, as mentioned the car has been elongated to accommodate the extra doors to make it practical however its still as capable as the three door version said Maruti Suzuki. Its dimensions are 3,985mm length, 1,645mm width, and 1,720mm height. The SUV’s ground clearance is 210mm. In addition, the Jimny has a 36-degree approach angle, a 24-degree ramp break-over, and a 50-degree departure angle.
The Jimny will be powered by Maruti Suzuki’s infamous 1.5-litre four-cylinder naturally aspirated K15C Dualjet engine, which also powers the updated Ertiga and XL6 and the brand-new Brezza. When aided by a mild hybrid system, this engine produces a maximum of 104.8 PS and 134.2 Nm of torque. A 4-speed torque converter will be offered as an alternative to the 5-speed manual transmission, which will come as standard. Maruti Suzuki has tweaked the engine to make it more appropriate for off-road driving.
The company will be offering the forthcoming Jimny in two variants namely the Alpha and Zeta. The more expensive Alpha variant of the SUV will come equipped with amenities such as a touchscreen infotainment system that sits in the centre of the dashboard. The SmartPlay system, which provides options for connectivity like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, will also be present. In addition to other safety features, the SUV will include 6 airbags, a brake limited slip differential (LSD), ESP with hill hold assistance, hill descent control, a rearview camera, and ABS with EBD.
In other news a few days ago it was revealed by the company that it will be offering the Indian Army a customized iteration of the Jimny. According to sources the company officials stated that they will be offering their current off-roader Jimny in its three-door format to the Indian Army and it will make it a soft top. Recently the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by the Union Minister of Defence Rajnath Singh approved the army’s request to induct new General Service (GS) 4X4 light vehicles.