Suzuki Jimny 5-door spied ahead of expected 2023 reveal

Despite reports saying the five-door version of the Jimny has been signed off for production, there has not been any official confirmation of such a project. These images would suggest it certainly is happening.

Pre-production prototypes of the 2023 Suzuki Jimny five-door wagon have been spied testing in the high altitude Kashmir region of Ladakh near the India/Pakistan border.

The 5-door wagon version of the Jimny is reportedly being produced by Suzuki’s Indian arm, Maruti Suzuki and the camouflaged wagon was snapped in the high altitude mountains.

Alongside the prototype Jimny was a new Suzuki Grand Vitara (not for Australia) as well as a Mahindra Thar which would be a competitor to the Jimny in India.

7

Despite reports saying that the five-door version of the Jimny has been signed off for production by Suzuki head office, there is yet to be any official confirmation of such a project. These images would suggest that it certainly is happening.

Earlier this year, the boss of Suzuki Australia, Michael Pachota said, “The
moment that it's available for our country, I will place as many orders as I can. When anything starts with the word Jimny it just ends in sales.”

The Jimny has been a huge success in Australia in 3-door configuration with demand far exceeding supply resulting in long wait times and jacked up prices for the diminutive off roader.

A 5-door Jimny would be even more appealing to many buyers as it offers the added practicality of a 5-door with extra seating and load carrying abilities.

7

Auto website GaaadiWaadi.com suggest the five-door Jimny could debut as soon as early January 12, 2023 at the Delhi Auto Expo where a five-door Mahindra Thar is also expected to be unveiled.

There’s no official word on what would power the bigger Suzuki Jimny but the existing 1.5-litre naturally-aspirated four-cylinder petrol engine would be a likely carry over.

Suzuki could also employ a more modern engine such as the 1.4-litre 48V mild-hybrid petrol engine found in some Suzuki models overseas. This engine would get the Jimny back in to the European countries where it has struggled to meet more stringent emission standards that the old 1.5L engine could not muster.

The story to here

September 9: Suzuki boss says five-door Jimny would be a smash hit in Australia

Local arm has its hand up for the as yet unconfirmed model

The head of Suzuki in Australia has said he'll place as "many orders as [he] can" for a five-door Jimny the first chance he's got.

Speaking to Wheels, General Manager Michael Pachota said the as yet unconfirmed model would fly off the shelves if it were to come to Australia.

Late last year the carmaker’s Indian arm reportedly signed off on the much-anticipated five-door Jimny Long, which is said to be powered by a 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, potentially with the addition of mild-hybrid technology.

7

Image: 2022 Suzuki Jimny Long rendering, courtesy mail.ru

But Pachota says officially the model still does not exist.

"I can tell you there's a lot of speculation out there, but can I confirm there's one coming at all and or to Australia? No, I can't," he said.

"I can tell you one thing though, the moment that it's available for our country, I will place as many orders as I can. When anything starts with the word Jimny it just ends in sales.

"It's an unbelievable product, we are are definitely going to have our hands up for it."

7

Image: 2022 Suzuki Jimny Long rendering, courtesy mail.ru

Speaking at the launch of the new S-Cross small SUV this week, Pachota said Australia is an important market for Suzuki, ranking 10th globally.

And this year it is on track to have its best result ever in Australia, selling 2144 cars in August and 15,182 for the year so far – up 105 per cent and 28 per cent respectively.

Of those numbers, the Jimny was the breadwinner, shifting 672 off-roaders in August and 3630 for 2022 year-to-date – also its best month on record.

Despite a good month, wait times for the Jimny remain at least 12 months, having not stopped being in demand since it arrived locally in 2019.

7

"Our success this year has been based on the fact that the supply rate has been better. This will be the biggest year for Suzuki Australia in its history," said Pachota.

"But at the same time, if you can supply plenty of cars and you can't sell them, then that's a problem. We've been well ahead of our supply rate in terms of sales. So if you're looking at our figures of what we're supplying at the moment, then in some instances you can even double them because that's really where we're selling it.

"Jimny is the hero of the pack, and our supply rate for it has well and truly doubled and yet our order rate has done even better than that.

"We are constantly chasing our tail with Jimny unfortunately. But with that said, production is improving which is good. And every single new Jimny on the road is just another rolling billboard that we have for awareness of that product. Because we haven’t even marketed that car. When you see them in these cute little colours just driving around the streets, you just want one."

7

Last year Suzuki introduced the Jimny Lite in Australia, a stripped back version offered to try and meet demand while getting around the shortages of semiconductors.

The back-to-basics variant sacrifices the mod-cons from the normal Jimny with only a five-speed manual gearbox on offer, but continues to be powered by the 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine making 75kW/130Nm.

It also comes with 15-inch steel wheels rather than the existing alloys, as well as halogen projector headlights and no front fog lights, deleting the LED units normally found on the regular version.

Inside the cabin the same principle has been applied with the Apple CarPlay/Android Auto infotainment set-up removed in favour of a simpler in-dash radio/CD player, still featuring Bluetooth connectivity for music streaming and calls.