By Kaustubh Shinde
The recent launch of the Mahindra Thar – a car meant for a Sunday adventure, has caught the attention of the largest Auto manufacturer in India – Maruti Suzuki. The company is said to be working on a mini SUV on the lines of a Suzuki Jimny (Gypsy for Indians).
Maruti claims that this will ‘almost’ be a new model with 4 doors and a diesel powerplant. We suspect the next generation Jimny will be manufactured in India. The vehicle could be powered by the 1.3-liter Multi-jet engine and could be under four meters long.
Senior Maruti Suzuki official -
We’re looking at how to strengthen our portfolio and are identifying new gaps. We’re actively looking at the small SUV space. This will have to be a four-door diesel model, as a petrol two-door SUV will not click with the Indian consumer. We’re working on an almost new concept for this.
The other cars that the company seems to be working on include
• new small-car in the Alto segment or a possible Alto replacement
• MPV possibly based on the RIII concept.
• the SX4 diesel variant
• new Swift
• Swift Dzire facelift
• And finally the Kizashi sedan
This frenzy of launches are in progress as Maruti wants to get back 50% market share that it lost in the last few years to other manufacturer.
It is the 40th anniversary for Suzuki Jimny (Gypsy) which was launched as a compact 4×4. It was called Jimny Sierra.
Back in 1970, the Jimny was probably the most affordable 4×4 vehicle. Suzuki spent two years developing this vehicle which had a 360cc two-stroke engine and a ladder frame chassis.
Leaf springs were the obvious choice. The air-cooled engine developed just 24hp and 36Nm, a few light years away from what off-roaders can manage today.
188 countries have seen, driven and off-roaded in the Jimny. In India, the second generation Gypsy, which internationally debuted in 1981, was introduced in the 1985 and immediately went on find thousands of fans. The Gypsy received a bouquet of upgrades from 1985-2000, but it was not enough to convince the modern day buyer, who isn’t willing to spend his money on a 20 year old vehicle. What Maruti had to do is bring in the latest generation vehicle rather than continuously investing on the existing model.
The Gypsy is a very capable off-roader and still is used by the border security forces.
Suzuki Australia General Manager Tony Devers -
With 40 years of history and legions of dedicated fans, the Jimny backs up its claim as the original compact SUV with substance rather than semantics
The next generation Jimny should come out within a year’s time and its crucial for Maruti to devise a plan for its Indian entry. Mini SUVs are going to be popular, and that assumption is backed by Mahindra’s mini SUV scheduled for the next decade, and Ford’s possible entry using the Fiesta platform. It won’t be long before Tata and a rush of other manufacturers join this race.
A 2-door Suzuki concept car shown earlier this decade
We hope this really happens
Back in 2005, a representative from Suzuki speaking to media in UK revealed the all-new Jimny would be brought out in 2009. Suzuki, tight lipped about the Jimny, lead many to believe there were no future plans for the vehicle.
Suzuki might plan to make Indian as an export base for the Jimny. The Jimny SJ series sold in India as the Gypsy. Despite its uniqueness, it was packed up a few years ago. With a 1.3-liter petrol engine, the Gypsy was India’s first mini SUV in every sense of the word.
Autoten reports the concept version of the Jimny could make an appearance at the Auto Expo or the Geneva Motor Show in March 2010. The vehicle could move into production sometime in 2012.
While we can’t vouch for claims from autoten, what this report does is reminds us of the forgotten Gypsy which could make a perfect case for a recreational vehicle in this era.
