Maruti Jimny Review

Maruti marketing guy says no 2WD but i see it coming and much sooner than it should. Maruti doesn’t have a neice product in their entire line up that just stays in the showroom. They bring a product only on volumes and that is why they changed the Jimny to a 5 door to not miss those consumers looking for convenience. Now many (a big chunk)don’t need a 4WD and need such a car but would not want to pay for that extra 4WD hardware. Thar has a 2WD that sells at 14-16 lac on road here in NCR. That thar will blow a knock out punch to Jimny volumes. Maruti must be knowing this but at initial launch they will not promise a 2WD variant, doing so they might risk loosing existing bookings.

5 Seater legally would have done the trick; the limit of 4 seater (legally) makes little sense and will surely see numbers dwindle.

1.3 DDis / 1.5 DDis would have been so fun in terms of Body to weight ratio.

Not every manufacturer is eager to dilute their brand by going against the core values of their marquee products. 2wd Jimny is not happening.

Would going 2WD would also improve the turning circle? If yes, it would be a little more friendly in town. For reference, the Jimny’s 5.7m turning circle is almost the same as a Tata Harrier or Jeep Compass!

Based on the TBHP review and some others, here’s a look at how the Jimny answers to an enthusiast’s desires:

A car should have looks, character and pedigree to be truly worth owning: Check, check and check. For this money, this is the car to own. The Thar is awesome too, of course, but this baby is global and the future belongs to smaller cars. This is the sort of car you can convert to EV ten years on, and keep going.

Is it a fun handler? Yes, as a light RWD vehicle the Gypsy (and hopefully the Jimny) is fun to drive on a tight hill road, IMHO more than my Punto. And definitely more than a compact SUV. It’ll run into its limits on a fast road, so this is a qualified yes.

A car should have a great engine - ok, this is no 1.0 TSI. But in Indian conditions, the short ratios will let you rev out the NA petrol and have fun with it. In city and hill driving, the Honda City’s VTEC only “kicks in yo” in first gear!

Will it do highways? Barely, but on most Indian highways, speeds range between 60 kmph - 100 kmph. With decent space, crash safety and ride comfort, the Jimny will get by.

Will it go to Ladakh? Sure, and surprisingly it has a bit of ride comfort to go with the capability.

How about every day use? Characterful and compact, the Jimny will “spark joy” on the everyday commute. The turning radius will hurt, though.

A car should be cheap to run and maintain - yep, this too.

Is it fun off-road? Well…

Not a bad score!

Its interesting to see that Maruti has used K15B (and not the newer, more lethargic K15C) in Jimny. I was under the impression that once Ciaz gets refreshed, K15B will be history in India.

The placement of the rear power window lock switch behind the hand brake could be a safety issue as a child can easily reach and disable it from that location. But the door pad design sort of left no choice.

I like Jimny in the images. It looks like a miniature Hummer to me (and not the miniature G-Wagen). I am sure it will be a blockbuster success for Maruti. Now the Maruti product line up has got everything for everyone in a sub 15 lacs budget.

The five door Thar is now the next much awaited launch. I hope it resembles the 5-door Wrangler just like the 3 door does and is available in White. Indian roads would become much more beautiful. The 5 door Wrangler is such an amazing design.

When ultimate driving machines can come with a 3 pot why not a Jimny with a 2WD.Changing times. ROCE vs ROCoreValues. For businesses ROCE wins generally. Cheers.

Loving this little car, though first order of business for tbhpians - dechrome the facia.

While I don't have anything against the 5 door, these surveys conducted by 3rd party vendor or coordinators are pretty lame. First of all they don't even target the right audience for a product, most of them are clueless and randomly pick folks from the market who may never put their money when it matters. Often paid 1000 bucks / goodies / dinner etc. So less we speak about it, the better.

For Offroad oriented folks the 3 door still will hold a lot of value (I have neither tried 3 or 5 door Offroad so it is a subjective judgement from reviews I have seen online), but yes they need to keep a differential in price from the 5 door if they were to ever sell it here in India. Not sure if there are any localisation or CMVR type of challenges in selling a 3 door version in India. Maybe that is the actual reason? But 2 wheel drive sounds ridiculous to the soul of the vehicle, but makes immense practical sense for popular sales, deleting the 4WD tranny is an easy 75-100 K less on pricing front also.

The day they announced 5 door, I felt they are aiming for volumes, where it makes sense for the business. Is it ok to use a Offroad legend pedigree and image to gather more sales number or they should focus on hard core enthusiast is a debatable topic (again positioning and pricing). Even a farmer in the hills obviously would prefer a 5 door in real world. Having lived with Thar, Gypsies and a new Thar with 4 grown up men over a weekend itself was a good deterrent to even me, that we took the much lethargic VCross for next trip. Lack of luggage space and getting in and out every time we stopped during the trip (in reality) was a royal pain in the back.

Looking at the success of the 3-door Thar, it is clear the survey was absolutely spot on.

Was this a sarcastic comment? Otherwise, I don't know what values a brand that cares two hoots about safety hold.

The other reason is, a 3 door Jimny except for compact dimensions which will help in offroading, has no USP over Thar. The Thar beats Jimny in almost every other aspect, be it variants, engine/transmission options, performance etc. In other markets there is probably nothing at Jimmy's price point where as we get Thar. The 5 door Jimny has a useable boot, better rear seats than That, which may pull some hatchback and other sub 4M SUV buyers.

Nice review Aditya & Chetan, thank you!

This diminutive 4X4 gets the Indians a true blue SUV at a hopefully (keeping fingers crossed) reasonable price that they've been waiting for for ages. It's a fit-for-purpose vehicle that does everything that a 4X4 is supposed to do and then some more.

I very much appreciate the fact that Suzuki stayed with body-on-frame/front live axle configuration (great for wheel articulation). I wish they start working on shoehorning the six-speed Torque Converter for the Jimny as a 4 speed automatic in this day and age is quite antiquated. And thank God for not providing the Sun Roof as that would have made this top-heavy, something that such a small/narrow vehicle with a high center of gravity can do without. Remember the infamous "Elk test" that Americans did on Suzuki Samurai which was our very own short-wheelbase 1.3ltr Gypsy which ultimately resulted in Suzuki pulling out the Samurai from the North American market in 1994.

I have a 2016 Gypsy King that I bought brand new and thank God that I did. I'll probably add a Jimny next year and they'll make a great pair. I know there will be a proverbial demand for comparison with Thar/Gurkha etc. which is fine. I'll take this any day over those vehicles that are both wide, heavy, and unwieldy something that I can do without on narrow Himalayan trails. Although I have been living abroad for the last 18 years; I was born in Shimla and have been driving all over North India (HP, Uttrakhand, J&K), especially on my trips back home once a year. and believe me, extra weight and width is not something that you want while going off the pavement in these mountains.

I have driven global SUVs like the Jeep Wrangler, (most of the variants including the Rubicon) Toyota Landcruiser Prado, and Toyota 4 Runner, etc. and I strongly feel that this Jimny is almost as good. There's a reason there's a year-long wait list in some global markets for this vehicle although customers there have access to the Wranglers and the Prados of the world.

I just wish folk don't start trashing our river beds and other natural/green spaces (typically we Indians have scant regard for our public spaces) once these SUVs are out in number. Future owners, also need to be careful not to engage 4H/L on paved surfaces that will result in transmission binding and thus result in costly repairs of the transfer case. I hope Suzuki salespeople have been trained to highlight those aspects while providing information to prospective customers.

Looking forward to test-driving the Jimny on my next trip to India and I have no doubt in my mind that I'll end up booking one as well. Now only if Maruti Suzuki were not to bugger it all up with some over-the-top pricing.

@volkman10 - I wonder who they surveyed and what the sample pool of people was. How many people did they survey and what was their profile.

@jaggu - MSIL are here to sell what they can and to make profits. Hence for a market like India it made better sense to make and sell the 5 door. Remember the Swift Hatchback which they tacked a boot on to, to create Swift Dzire. In the case of the Jimny they will certainly tout the off-road go-anywhere pedigree but the people who buy it are normal people who have the money and the requirement for a ‘tough’ vehicle.
Numerous examples of this kind of marketing abound, but the real world usage patterns are totally different;
1. Land Rover Defender - can go anywhere, over anything, Overlanding is what it is built for - but most owners drive it to the Mall or School. (I hesitate to say Soccer Mom because it is an American coinage though we have our ‘version’ here.
2. Breitling Watches - Instruments for Professionals - can dive to the ocean bottom or go into space. Most owners barely wet their Breitlings in the shower.
3. Jeep Wrangler - Jeep Lifestyle, rock crawling in Moab or Desert drifting in the Mojave. Most owners buy the Unlimited and use it as a people and luggage hauler.
4. MG Motors - They are fully Chinese, and make some over-the-top-designed, bling-waggon type vehicles. But they scream from the roof-tops about their ‘British’ pedigree and have even coopted Benedict Cumberbatch as their Brand Ambassador. They even have a badge saying ‘Brit’ on the fenders of some of their vehicles.

@PrideRed - The Jimny and the Thar are absolutely totally different. Like chalk and cheese. Can’t really compare them. Even when speaking of off-road, the Jimny will be able to go where the Thar cannot. And the Thar makes for a much better long distance Grand Tourer. Best to own both, if one has the money. Because both are individually brilliant and serve totally different applications.

@VikramArya - you took the words literally from my mouth. In our country the laws of trespass are lax. There is little or no enforcement of any restrictions in prohibited areas. What little engorcement is there can be circumvented by bribery and or ‘rank-pulling’. I have seen idiot motorists stopped right in the middle of wildlife sanctuaries and making merry and eating and all. There is a recent public article which states that Ladakh will allow tourists into ‘sensitive and/ or prohibited areas’. And this comes just after the controversy about the Jimny advert showing it running.on a river bed. There are no ‘regulated green lanes’ or ‘off road trails’ or ‘official organised camping spots’. The litter and garbage management facilities are non-existent. With the ‘democratisation of off-roading’ by way of all these new age vehicles, an ever-increasing population, and the ever-increasing purchasing-power, marked lack of proper education in real-terms, and the mania caused by social-media, we will soon literally be saddled with millions of unqualified, uncaring, irresponsible, fame-seeking “four wheel-drive off-road enthusiasts” crawling about, getting stuck, disrupting sensitive eco-systems and permanently ruining the countryside.

I asked, but it was denied by the PR guys.

As far as I know and have heard, Suzuki does its own market research and target customers are generally similar target segment vehicle owners as well as existing Suzuki loyalists. For Suzuki, the reaction of the market to the Zen Carbon and Zen Steel is probably something that always affects their decision making.
More than number of doors, I think the overall size of the vehicle was the first factor that was decided based on need for space and carrying some luggage at least and that automatically necessitated 5 doors.

2 wheel drive Jimny does not exist in the current Jimny anywhere in the world and is against a true blue off roader's DNA. Just to hit a price point, I don't think Suzuki will ever make that sacrifice. With regards to pricing, one has to understand economies of scale. Current Suzuki platforms in India are ammortized rapidly across multiple models and hence platform costs are not that high. This LOF platform is standalone with very limited volumes (I think volumes will be lower than Suzuki expectations as our market is not mature enough to understand what a Jimny or a Thar or a Wrangler is truly about!!). The prices are bound to be higher.

The marketing guys are over working the pedigree thing because people are not going to pay up good money because of Gypsy memories. The Gypsy was a workhorse but barebones. Their focus is on its international pedigree and hence ad campaigns are focussed on such stories. If they can sell an image of its global success, the Indian audience will warm up to it comparatively faster. And a warmed up audience pays anything now a days in India for their wants. Let's see what happens.