Suzuki Jimny ute still in hot demand

The Suzuki Jimny compact 4WD is a sell-out success and as demand in Australia continues to outstrip supply, customers are now beseeching the company for a ute derivative.

That’s the word from Suzuki Automobiles Australia general manager Michael Pachota, who was careful to point out that although no new Jimny spin-offs have been confirmed, such as the five-door model outlined in overseas reports this week, demand is snowballing.

“As a result of these recent rumours, we have already had a great deal of incremental enquiry regarding both unconfirmed variants [ute and five-door Jimny], suggesting there’s quite an appetite for them here in Australia if they were to ever be available.”

The fourth-generation Suzuki Jimny was introduced to Australia in early 2019, and despite price rises and a sub-par three-star ANCAP safety rating it has sold its socks off, locally and globally.

“Jimny has been an extremely highly sought-after vehicle in Australia, so much so that some dealers have up to a 12-month waiting period in back orders in its current configuration,” said Pachota.

The Suzuki Jimny is a rudimentary vehicle by new-car standards, using a dated 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine (75kW/130Nm) that is low on power and high on CO2 emissions – so much so that it was banned from sale in Europe until Suzuki removed the rear seats and called it a commercial vehicle.

However, its cubist exterior design, light kerb mass and rugged underpinnings have made it a cult classic.

“Even with a significant production increase in 2020 we still can't keep up, with demand in Australia outstripping supply well and truly into our 12-month production pipeline,” said Pachota.

“This [demand] has created a greater backlog than we have to date, with enquiry and orders continuing to grow every month.”

He said that requests have been put to the factory in Japan for more production in 2021 to get customers into their vehicles faster.

“I would love to see what happens if we started advertising the car!” he laughed.

As previously reported, Suzuki Australia has been lobbying the Japanese head office to develop a Jimny pick-up which would undoubtedly be just as popular.

Suzuki New Zealand has developed a home-grown Jimny single-cab tray-back ute that is not offered in Australia, and reports of a five-door Jimny refuse to go away.

While Pachota said there’s been “no confirmation that a Suzuki Jimny five-door or ute are in development from Suzuki Motor Corporation Japan”, he was quick point out that if they did become available they would be requested post-haste.

“As I have said before, without a doubt if these models were to be available, Australia would have its hand held very high for the opportunity,” he said.

“Our agricultural industry would jump at a utility and a five-door variant would most definitely broaden the buyer type to vehicle intenders looking for more space when thrill-seeking through national parks and on Aussie beaches or simply in need of that additional seating capacity for more occupants in the city or ’burbs.”

Defying market trends, which have seen a 20 per cent slump in overall new-vehicle sales in Australia this year, Suzuki Jimny sales are up by more than 30 per cent.

It is currently the fourth top-selling vehicle in the light SUV class, moving up a rung in recent months as supplies of the Holden Trax run out.