Suzuki Australia has confirmed it will soon launch a new entry-level version of the Jimny, called the Jimny Lite. It’s set to feature only the essentials while hitting the market at an even more attractive price.
The latest Suzuki Jimny has been a great success. In fact, Suzuki is not able to keep up supply for the high demand, despite the plucky off-roader’s relatively poor ANCAP safety rating (3 stars) and rudimentary on-road dynamics. Fans, including us, just can’t get enough.
Well, the local division can certainly see that so it is launching another variant to try and alleviate the pressure. The local arm says the Jimny has been its “most sought-after vehicle” since its launch in January, 2019. Suzuki Automotive general manager in Australia, Michael Pachota, said:
“We’re giving people what they want – more Jimny’s! With demand continuously increasing for this model we are so pleased to be able to add another variant in the line-up and continue to grow our Jimny community with this incremental supply opportunity.”
As for the new variant in specifics, Suzuki simply says it will showcase the same performance and engine specifications as the existing model, although, the Jimny Lite will be available with a manual transmission only. The exiting model is powered by a 1.5-litre petrol four-cylinder that produces 75kW and 130Nm.
The Lite variant will also drop the alloy wheels and instead come with rugged 15-inch steel wheels, as well as plastic textured side mirrors (instead of gloss black), halogen projector headlights without fog lights, and a basic audio unit for the cabin. The radio/CD player will offer Bluetooth connectivity and music streaming, but there’s no Android Auto or Apple CarPlay as there is no touch-screen. Air-conditioning remains, with manual temperature control.
With the launch of the Jimny Lite, Suzuki says it will maintain its “fair allocation” process, with a queue system for orders. Essentially, the next order in line should receive their vehicle next, ahead of somebody who has just placed an order, for example. According to our parent company and its nation-wide dealer network, delivery times are around 6-9 months, but they have seen up to 12 months for certain orders.
The Suzuki Jimny Lite is scheduled to go on sale in Australia from August 1. Prices will be announced then but as a guide the manual Jimny currently starts from $28,490 (excluding on-roads) – up from the initial starting price of $23,990 in 2019. If you can’t wait, Suzuki has set up a dedicated website on the Lite which will go live on July 1.
