Maruti Suzuki Jimny created a lot of hype when it was showcased at the Auto Expo 2020. There have been a lot of rumours regarding the launch of Jimny for India. The SUV was also spied on Indian roads which increased the hopes regarding the launch of Jimny. However, the engineering head of Maruti Suzuki, CV Raman has dispelled the rumours around it. He has confirmed that there are no plans regarding the launch of Jimny in the Indian market in an interview with What Car? India.
CV Raman also explains some of the reasons for not launching the Jimny in India. Listening to his justification makes sense that why Jimny does not make financial sense for Maruti Suzuki. He explains that currently, the Jimny is only manufactured as a 3-door version and is sold in international markets only. Currently, the SUV is being manufactured in India, but only for exports to the foreign markets.
He further shares that the investment needed for selling the Jimny is too high and the returns are low as the three-door vehicles are too niche for the Indian market and don’t sell much. This is true as there is not much demand for three-door SUVs in India. However, you might think that the 2020 Mahindra Thar is a huge success in our market and that too is a three-door SUV. The reason for that is that Mahindra has worked extensively to make sure that the 2020 Thar can be used as a daily driver. For this, they had to increase its dimensions.
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When compared, the Jimny is significantly more compact than the Thar due to which rear occupants would not be comfortable. However, CV Raman also said that they might launch the Jimny as a three-door if the segment shows future promise. So, it comes down how the new Thar’s sales are and for how long Mahindra is able to sustain good sales. Maruti Suzuki will be monitoring the sales of the 2020 Thar and decide whether the Jimny has a probability of being a success or not.
If Maruti Suzuki decides to launch the Jimny in India, it would probably be released as a 5-door version as the 3-door version is just too impractical for Indian customers. In the international markets, Maruti offers the Jimny with the 1.5-litre K15B petrol engine that produces 102 PS of max power and 130 Nm of torque. It is only offered with a 5-speed manual gearbox. This is the same engine that we have seen on other Maruti Suzuki’s such as the Ciaz, S-Cross, XL6, Vitara Brezza and the Ertiga. The power is transferred to all the four wheels because it is a proper 4×4 which comes with low range gearbox. Where the predecessor, Gypsy was barebones and lacked creature comforts, the Jimny offers a projector headlamp, hill hold control, hill descent control, ABS with EBD and much more. Maruti Suzuki also offers its SmartPlay touchscreen infotainment system that supports Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. If launched, the Maruti Suzuki Jimny will be competing with Force Gurkha and the Mahindra 2020 Thar.
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