Those of us who were salivating at the thought of the new Jimny coming to India after its global unveil, had to hold our horses. Maruti never officially communicated this. However, a report from Asia Nikkei says that India’s largest carmaker is indeed looking at bringing in the Jimny but in a localised avatar. Yes, they need to localise bits and pieces so that it works out to be cost effective to them.
Technically, the Jimny is the global successor of the Gypsy. However, since most of the army folks stopped buying the Gypsy the sales had gone down. It was as it is a made-to-order product. Moreover, the introduction of new safety norms and the upcoming BS-VI emission clearances were too much for the Gypsy and hence it was axed this March.
Compact SUVs rule the roost here in India and MSIL understands that. However, it only has the Vitara Brezza in this segment. “We are only operating in a third of India’s communities,” Suzuki chairman Osamu Suzuki said. It is pretty clear that the company wants a rural market penetration. While the Vitara Brezza will hold fort in the urban areas, the new Jimny-based compact SUV will be the prime in rural parts of India. Maruti so far has close to 3,000 dealerships in India. However, most of these are situated in the tier-1 and two cities. The tier-III cities penetration is what is desired and this new compact, rugged SUV will help do that. Mobile showrooms too are being thought of to ensure the reach is proper. Moreover, Maruti has lost a bit of its market share due to the automotive sales slump down in the country. These steps will help it regain the shares.
The new Jimny-based SUV will likely come next year. Perhaps a display at the Auto Expo 2020 could be a sure shot thing. MSIL will use a petrol engine, most likely the 84PS, 1.2-litre motor that was recently updated to BS-VI. A 5-speed manual transmission will be offered and along with 4×4 capability, like the Gypsy.
Source: Asia.Nikkei
