The 2018 Suzuki Jimny was launched in July this year, the latest generation of the popular mini SUV is produced at the company’s Kosai manufacturing facility in Japan
The 2018 Suzuki Jimny was launched in Japan, its home market, in July 2018. As per a report that surfaced online, the mini SUV has witnessed an overwhelming demand. As per the report, Suzuki has grossly underestimated the demand for the latest generation of its mini SUV.
The company has set an annual sales target of 15,000 units for the local market. Interestingly, the company bagged more than 15,000 orders in less than a month. The company produced the previous (third) generation of its mini SUV at its Iwata plant. The new generation, however, is manufactured at the company’s Kosai plant.
Thanks to the overwhelming demand, the company now plans to increase the production of the 2018 Suzuki Jimny. However, the increase in production will be possible only by next year.
Suzuki will make sure that the production is ramped up only if the great demand doesn’t fade away with time. The Jimny is available in two variants – a kei car version that is meant for sale only in Japan and a Sierra variant that is bigger, more powerful and will be sold in several markets across the globe.
The 2018 Suzuki Jimny is 3,395 mm long, 1,475 mm wide and 1,725 mm tall. Powering the kei car version is an R06A 0.66-litre three-cylinder petrol engine that outputs 64 PS of maximum power and 96 Nm of peak torque. In comparison, the Sierra variant is 3,550 mm long, 1,645 mm wide, and 1,730 mm tall. It’s powered by a K15B 1.5-litre petrol engine that outputs 102 PS and 130 Nm. This is the same engine that recently made its India debut on the Ciaz facelift.
The fourth-generation Jimny has 205 mm of ground clearance (210 mm for Sierra) and 4×4 mechanism. Both the variants get two transmission options – 5-speed manual and 4-speed automatic. While the 2018 Suzuki Jimny was speculated to be India-bound, Maruti Suzuki recently ruled out all such possibilities. The small size, three-door body format, and a lack of diesel engine have been cited as the main reasons.