Maruti Suzuki India recently announced that it has started exporting the India-made Maruti Suzuki Jimny 5-door to Japan. And now, Suzuki Corp has temporarily halted the bookings for the 5-door SUV due to unexpectedly high demand. The automaker has announced that it is working to deliver the ordered units as quickly as possible before reopening bookings.
In Japan, the 5-door Jimny will go on sale as the ‘Jimny Nomade’. The SUV will be manufactured at the company’s manufacturing facility in Gurugram, Haryana and is the second India-made model to be exported to Japan after Fronx. There are no major changes made to the exported model, the overall design remains the same, the only difference is that the Japan-spec Jimny comes with two new colour options: Chiffon Ivory Metallic (with a black roof) and Jungle Green. However, Suzuki has not included the India-spec model’s signature Kinetic Yellow shade for the Japan-spec Jimny.
While we tested the Jimny and found it to be a capable off-road vehicle with a good amount of practicality, its smaller size and initial pricing didn’t resonate well with many Indian buyers. In contrast, Japan’s market favors compact vehicles, making the Jimny a perfect fit for its buyers. This preference has contributed to the Jimny’s far stronger demand in Japan compared to India. For reference, in India the Maruti Suzuki Jimny 5-door sold 17,000 units in the first nine months since its launch.
Moving inside, the dashboard layout is the same. However, it gets grey and black upholstery with a smaller touchscreen infotainment system. Additionally, the Japan-spec model also gets heated ORVMs, and heated front seats with advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) features such as adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking and more. Regarding pricing, the Japan-spec 5-door Jimny is priced between 2,651,000 yen and 2,750,000 yen (about Rs 14.86 lakh to Rs 15.41 lakh at current exchange rates).
Other features include automatic climate control, push start/stop, LED auto headlamps with washer, fog lamps, body-coloured ORMVs, 15-inch alloy wheels and Dark green glass. Safety features include 6 airbags, an anti-lock braking system (ABS), and electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD).
Talking about the powertrain, the Jimny 5-door is powered by the 1.5-litre K15B NA Petrol engine which comes paired either with a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic. This engine puts out 105 bhp of power and 134 Nm of torque. It also gets Maruti’s mild-hybrid tech. The SUV also features Suzuki’s AllGrip Pro 4WD system with a manual transfer case and low-range gearbox with ‘2WD-high’, ‘4WD-high’ and ‘4WD-low’.
