Suzuki Jimny five-door first batch on-route to South Africa

Having made its official South African debut as a prototype at the Kyalami Festival of Motoring in August, Suzuki’s Maruti division in India has confirmed that the first batch of five-door Jimnys have left the country on-route to markets in the Middle East, South America and Africa.

What to expect

Produced at the Gurgaon Plant where the three-door has been made since 2020 for export markets only due to ongoing world demand placing strive on the main facility in Kosai, Japan, the Jimny five-door retains the AllGrip four-wheel-drive system and 210 mm of ground clearance, but with a 360 mm length stretch applied to its ladder-frame chassis.

Now able to accommodate 211-litres of luggage in the boot with the rear seats up, motivation is also unchanged with outputs of 75kW/130Nm from the K15B normally aspirated 1.5-litre petrol engine.

Also similar is the option of a five-speed manual gearbox or a four-speed automatic, a limited slip differential, Hill Start Assist and low range transfer case.

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“The Jimny has strengthened Maruti Suzuki’s presence in the SUV segment. The India-manufactured Jimny 5-door in our export portfolio will surely create excitement among our overseas customers,” Maruti Suzuki Managing Director and CEO, Hisashi Takeuchi, said in a statement accompanying the image of the first examples being loaded for transit from an unnamed port.

“Aligning with the Government of India’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, our company now exports an extensive range of 17 vehicles across segments. We remain committed in our efforts to sustain leadership in export of India-manufactured passenger vehicles”.

Price still unknown

Officially revealed at the Delhi Auto Expo in January after what had been three-years of speculative reports and pre-production sightings, the five-door Jimny is only expected to go on-sale towards the end of the year based on the first examples now being at sea.

While still to be priced, the top-spec GLX will be fitted as standard with not only automatic climate control, but also a new nine-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in place of the current seven-inch setup.

Despite only the GLX being mentioned, expectations are that the entry-level GL will also be made available, come the official launch, in order to broaden the five-door’s market reach.

As such, expect a price premium over the three-door, whose stickers range from R373 900 for the GL manual to R419 900 for the GLX automatic.

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