Three weeks on from the launch - Jumping Jimny!

By Stuart Johnston

A few weeks after the launch of the ultra-cool-looking Suzuki Jimny, word has it that sales are going through the roof!

Right now, if you want to order a new Suzuki Jimny, you’ll have to be prepared to wait until next May before taking delivery of the surprise hot-kid on the new-car block in late 2018.

Just three weeks after the launch of the diminutive hard-core SUV, the entire pre-planned stock of 500 units has been sold out. What’s more, the demand is global rather than local, and Suzuki is working flat-out to meet demand in countless markets where the fascination with this little 4X4 has reached fever-pitch.

Suzuki records keep tumbling

Suzuki Auto South Africa must be throwing early festive season parties all over the country. Last year the company broke all previous sales record here and this year it has moved firmly into the post 1 000 sales units per month bracket. In July it set a new bench-mark of 1 237 sales, and has followed this up with sales totals of 1 081 in August, 1 140 in September and 1 103 in October. If those new-model Jimny sales can be registered in time, November and December could well be new record months for this go-getter automotive company.

Just three years ago, the monthly sales figures made comparatively depressing reading for Suzuki. Total volumes battled to break the 400-per-month level and the only consistent sellers were the Swift and, notably, the Jimny.

The previous Jimny had an 18-year model cycle

It is interesting to note that the previous-generation Jimny had an 18-year life-cycle, although we only started being offered the model in South Africa a few years after Suzuki resumed selling cars here under Suzuki management, in 2008. Prior to that the brand was pretty much an afterthought under General Motors South Africa management.

It’s worth bearing in mind, though, that it was GMSA that introduced the original Suzuki mini-SUV here, the SJ series, and that this early 1980s model was well-received, despite a tendency to be top-heavy and falling over if off-road drivers tried to straddle steep inclines, instead of meeting them head-on. You still see a few examples of the original SJ running around South Africa, and it was interesting to note that in the final months before the third-gen Jimny was launched here, the previous Jimny still notched up very steady sales.

Styling is pitch-perfect between modern and retro

What the new vehicle has going for it, first and foremost, is its appearance. It is pitched near-perfectly between a nod to a box-shaped retro SUV  with subtle modern cues such as  robust plastic cladding for bumpers and wheel-arch protection. And you can order up the flashier 1.5 GLX .version with street-cred type alloys or go the full-on backwoodsman route with funky old-school steel wheels as fitted to the cheaper GA model, which to this writer’s eye taps into the essential  honesty of the Jimny.

Minimal modern electronics

It is also interesting to note that the Jimny eschews modern electronics as far as possible in this push-button pop-up age. The all-important low-range transfer case selection is achieve by man-handling a second gear-lever to select all wheel drive and  low range for serious off-roading, just like it used to be done in the days before fancy auto-select drive mode knobs.

To me, this makes me trust the Jimny more than I would a feature-laden electronic  gizmo whizz when tackling serious trails far from the madding crowd, not to mention any friendly Suzuki Auto dealership.

Spartan but smart

Just as the Jimny is Spartan  looking but nevertheless  smart outside, so it is inside too. Don’t kid yourself that you can load up the entire family in this car with a week’s camping gear crammed into the luggage area. With the rear seats (cloth upholstery is standard) in the upright position there is precious space left in the  boot. This is a car ideally suited to two people, if it’s a weekend getaway you have in mind. Fold the seats flat and use that rear area for luggage.

Non-turbo motor as usual

It is interesting that Suzuki remains one of the few manufacturers here not to offer any form of turbocharged engine in its model range. The Jimny makes do with a 1,5-litre naturally-aspirated four-cylinder petrol engine, producing  75 kW and 130 nm of Torque. That’s enough, but only just, to keep the little SUV humming along at the speed limit in fifth over most sections of highway you might encounter. If you are pressing on, though, you have to make use of the five-speed gearbox to overtake, which would normally see you pay some hefty fuel-consumption penalties. By the way, there is a 4-speed automatic version available.

Great fuel economy

However, somehow Suzuki seemed to have endowed the Jimny with excellent fuel economy too, despite its non-aerodynamic shape. A KZN-based journalist recorded an average consumption figure of around six litres/100 km on his trip, immediately post-launch, from Mpumalanga back to his home-base in Pietermaritzburg, covering a round-trip distance of some 1 500 km.

Great fuel consumption performance is a given for virtually all Suzuki products currently on sale here, with the exception of the V6-engined Grand Vitara, which  is indeed on the thirsty side. I would imagine you’d be getting between 7,0 litres/100 and 7,5 litres/100 km if you used the vehicle around town for most of its working life. But my colleague from KZN insists it is a lot better than that!

On the Mpumalanga launch we did some quite challenging off-road work in the assembled Jimnys. The route was in forestry areas using fire-break roads, so it wasn’t as if we were pounding over rocks. But the very wet weather made the going quite slippery and some of the inclines looked daunting indeed. In low-range the route was a doddle for the Jimny. What was also gratifying was, on steep downhills on mud, the Jimny never seemed to get hung-up in following deep ruts or grooves that may have led you off your chosen path. The secret here is the light overall weight ( 1 100 kg)  of the Jimny and the short wheel-base. It sorts of skips over things that may really hang up a larger, more luxurious off-roader.

Having said that the Suzuki makes use of mechanical devices rather than electronic selection, one of the electronic devices it does employ is downhill descent, which automatically applies the brakes on a downhill descent where going ultra slowly is deemed  necessary. I found this a bit frustrating, actually, as I think the minimum speed was set too slow for the route we were using.

Safety-wise, the Jimny comes with ABS and dual airbags, and a passenger cell that is apparently reinforced with plenty of high-tensile steel. More practically, from an active safety point of view, the high-speed stability on the new model, with its wider track, is much improved over the previous Jimny model.

Would I wait six months for a Jimny?

If I were in the market for a new Jimny, would I opt to wait for six months before taking delivery? My answer to that is yes, because this is not the type of vehicle that you can easily replace in our market with a similarly-priced equivalent. It’s also the type of vehicle that you are likely to buy and keep for a long, long time. After all, that previous Jimny was in production for 18 years!

Pricing of the new Jimny is R264 900 for the 1.5 GA model (with steel wheels), R299 900 for the 1.5 GLX and R319 900 for the 1.5 GLX four-speed automatic.