India’s largest automaker Maruti Suzuki, on Thursday, launched its much-awaited off-roader Jimny in India.
The homegrown carmaker’s five-door Jimny, unveiled globally on the second day of the Auto Expo 2023, will go on sale by mid-2023. Maruti Suzuki also revealed that it will offer Jimny sports utility vehicle (SUV) in two variants – Alpha and Zeta.
According to Maruti, the new Jimny will be manufactured at the company’s Gurugram plant and will also be exported to overseas markets. Bookings for the Jimny SUV will also start today. Earlier in 2020, Maruti Suzuki showcased the three-door Jimny at the Indian Motor Show to attract consumers’ interest but never launched the vehicle in India.
Maruti Suzuki is expected to announce the price for the five-door Jimny SUV by mid-2023. The off-road SUV is likely to be priced around Rs 12 lakh (ex-showroom) and will go up against the likes of Mahindra Thar and Force Gurkha in the country.
Looks and design
Maruti Suzuki’s new five-door Jimny, in terms of dimensions, is largely a long wheelbase version of the 3-door SUV sold in the global markets. The new five-door Jimny stands 3,985mm long, 1,645mm wide and 1,720mm tall. The SUV has a wheelbase of 2,590mm. The India-spec Jimny is a 5-seater car with a bench seat layout for the second row.
Apart from the long wheelbase, the five-door Jimny SUV is still largely similar in terms of design to its three-door sibling. The new SUV comes equipped with a side-opening door with exposed hinges, a rear door-mounted spare tyre, bumper-mounted tail lamps and 15-inch alloy wheels.
Interior and features
The new five-door Jimny’s dashboard comes with an all-black theme and features a 9.0-inch touchscreen infotainment screen. The car also features similar steering wheel controls and circular dials for HVAC to other Maruti cars.
The car also features plenty of smart storage spaces, a stack of switches on the centre console and a 4×4 gear lever. In addition to this, the five-door Jimny comes equipped with the company’s proprietary SmartPlay Pro+ infotainment system,̉ Arkamys sound system and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The new SUV’s safety features include 6 airbags, ESP with hill hold assist, hill descent control, rear-view camera and ABS with EBD.
Powertrain
The new five-door Jimny, unlike Maruti’s other line-up in the country, features an older K15B engine that is paired either to a 5-speed manual gearbox or 4-speed torque converter automatic. Interestingly, this is the same engine that is also featured in the three-door Jimny and churns out 105hp and 134Nm of peak torque. However, the new SUV will also get Maruti’s mild-hybrid tech.
In terms of off-road capability, the Jimny 5-door comes equipped with Suzuki’s AllGrip Pro 4WD system with a manual transfer case and low-range ‘2WD-high’, ‘4WD-high’ and ‘4WD-low’ transmission systems. Furthermore, the company also claims that the new Jimny has an approach angle of 36-deg, a breakover angle of 24-deg, a departure angle of 50-deg and a ground clearance of 210mm.
Sources: CNBC TV 18
