[TusharK]

Maruti Suzuki has no plans to introduce a 2WD version of the Jimny in the Indian market.



Shashank Srivastava, Senior Executive Director, Sales and Marketing at Maruti Suzuki India, stated that the Jimny is an off-roader and a 2WD version would dilute the brand. It will go against the core brand ethos of the Jimny.

“Globally, Jimny is an off-roader, and it will be a dilution to the brand if we introduce a two-wheel drive variant. Therefore, a 2WD Jimny is not in active consideration, and we will continue to sell the 4WD version,” Srivastava said.

“While we have received feedback from several customers asking for a 2WD variant of the Jimny, it will go against the Jimny’s core brand ethos,” he added.

The Jimny 5-door was launched in the Indian market in June this year. The off-roader is priced between Rs 12.84 lakh and Rs 14.89 lakh. Maruti is selling around 3,000 units per month. This month, the carmaker slashed the prices of the entry-level variants by Rs 2 lakh, in a bid to boost sales.

Source: Autocar India

Link to Team-BHP News

[fhdowntheline]

Is there a 2WD Jimny at all available in the Suzuki line up? I agree with the company stance though. For all practical purposes, a 2WD Jimny is no better than a Fronx. Time would tell whether there is a sustainable demand for mass market 4WD cars. Otherwise there is always the paramilitary/Armed Forces.

[Mr.Boss]

Originally Posted by fhdowntheline

Is there a 2WD Jimny at all available in the Suzuki line up?

Nope. It is always with 4WD configuration.

[Sidjohri]

Well said Maruti. The core identity and elements of any product / brand should not be fiddled with no matter the desperation levels. Tomorrow the consumer may wish for a monocoque set up for the Jimny for added comfort and handling, and so on & so forth. Does not mean the manufacturer should listen to buyers' whims and fancies all the time.

Originally Posted by fhdowntheline

Is there a 2WD Jimny at all available in the Suzuki line up? I agree with the company stance though. For all practical purposes, a 2WD Jimny is no better than a Fronx. Time would tell whether there is a sustainable demand for mass market 4WD cars. Otherwise there is always the paramilitary/Armed Forces.

Jimny comes with much higher GC and other bits (BoF setup, related components etc.) for off road usage. A 2wd Jimny (even if there is any in the foreseeable future) IMHO cannot be directly compared with the Fronx or any other vehicle in MSIL's current production line-up.

Suzuki does not have a factory version of the Jim with 2wd config anywhere globally as on date.

[fiat_tarun]

This is definitely a Suzuki decision and I am glad they are not going in this direction. Some brands are beyond just the sales number and the legacy needs to be protected.

5 door exports have now started to SA and Australia and hence the line will keep running and they don't really need any drastic measures.

[amtak]

a 2wd Jimny is Brezza. It will dilute the brand of Jimny; better let it be as it is, sales will be slow but will keep footfalls coming. I was up in the hills and saw more of Jimny than Thars. It may be area specific, but yes.

[GTO]

Well done, Maruti! A Jimny 4x2 would be sacrilege. Better to correct the price across the board (as was recently done but just in 1 variant). Selling a Jimny without the 4x4 would be like Mercedes selling a C-Class without an air-conditioner.

Never been a fan of Mahindra selling the Thar in 4x2 format either, although I must admit, that 1.5L diesel drives really well under 90 - 100 kmph.

[Rocketscience]

I feel 4x2 is the way to go for most people and makes perfect sense, just that they don't have it ready or are not willing to for whatever reason is the reason for this statement.

99 of 100 people I know have never done off roading in their lives and don't want to either, myself included.

But, atleast 30% of those people desire to buy a Thar and most would buy one if they had the resources, now, why pay so much extra, 4+ lakhs in case of Thar (I know small diesel engine and resulting tax benefits is also a contributing factor to this), for something you will never ever use.

They want the car for aesthetic purposes or the brute and bold image, or whatever shallow or non shallow reason and they are all valid reasons to buy a car, how will the brand image get diluted?
1- Those buying it know it is 4x2 and will not expect it to off road as well as the 4x4 version.
2- Those who are serious off roaders will anyways never buy the 4x2 version so no question of their fun being diluted, it is not like the brand selling 4x2 to others will make your 4x4 less capable on the trails.

How will someone having 4x2 version of the product spoil other's off-road experience or brand image? It will make great business sense though and given Mahindra's proven track record with pricing related decisions, it is a wise decision from their management.

In my specific case my sister wanted Thar as her first owned vehicle and was adament on not buying anything else and would not listen to any of our reasons, she has no intentions of taking it off road and would have used it to commute 4-5 kms from our home to DLF Cyber City office, we had a test drive of that variant and booked the 4x2 version for her.

Although I strongly felt it is not the vehicle to go for her because it is not urban enough, or luxurious enough but it made me (and also our dad) want the Thar badly instead of her, the diesel engine was a gem, the test drive despite all the short comings, bad suspension/stability/handling, hard steering, below average for the price interiors and features it still was mad fun and the way the car went over bad patches of road with ultra confidence and authority was unlike any of the vehicles we had/wanted to have, it would have not made me a convert but would have been a fantastic second or third car in our garage!

The dream ended when despite using all the connections we had and booking it at 1 other showroom, the quickest delivery time was quoted as 10 months, the longest was 2 years!
I could finally convince her to get the new Verna instead and got it instantly, great car and great car for her absolutely.
But now I want to buy the Thar 4x2 instead and might even go for it, I will never take outside of Delhi NCR though, not even on highways and other states since we own better cars for that job. And no, it will never go off-roading.

[HappyWheels]

Originally Posted by Mr.Boss

Nope. It is always with 4WD configuration.

The ONLY USP for Jimny is its 4WD system, take that out and it has no value to stand on, when compared to other vehicles that are available.

Originally Posted by GTO

...Never been a fan of Mahindra selling the Thar in 4x2 format either, although I must admit, that 1.5L diesel drives really well under 90 - 100 kmph.

The Thar has atleast a powerful engine, the "brute look" that is an attraction for many, hence it will sell in 2WD avatar as well. And truth be told, many people with 4WD vehicles hardly use it for where its meant to be, and a power 2WD will just suffice.

[Kosfactor]

In a Jimny creating a 2WD version will cost good amount of money. They have to design a new front end, probably gearbox modifications, new prop shaft etc. A dead axle is not there in any of their vehicles at the moment, even super carry uses some sort of independent front end. If they are going to go the 2WD route they may as well design a modern double wishbone set up, R&P steering and make it a nice driving car.

[Mystic]

I am glad that Maruti will never ever go the route of 2WD insulting the USP of Jimny for sheer number of sales. Most of Indians are impressed by the retro style cute Jimny and really need 2WD and are apparently been forced 4WD.

Recently in our 40 years reunion of our engineering college batch mates, lot of batch mates are surprised at my new Jimny and why this at post 60 years especially after me advising all to leave materialistic pursuits and proceed with spiritual pursuits after 60 years.

Many of my batch mates apparently think I am a petrol head and asked for my true honest opinion as they are seriously looking at buying Jimny after all discounts drama.

My advise to them all in Whatsup:

It is a life style vehicle and donot buy if your usage is less than 40% rural off road usage with 4WD and it should be either your 3 rd or 4 th car in your garage.

There is some confusion on Jimny highway driving manners. I drove the vehicle from Visakhapatnam to Bangalore and it is more comfortable than my Innova Crysta Z automatic in which I drove the same road of 1000 kms 4 months back.

My Jimny is top end automatic which costed 18.5 L on road in Vizag and I along with others think it is on higher side.

Jimny is a flop in India and it is a huge hit abroad competing with Mercedes Benz G wagon costing more than 1 crore in 4WD . May be Indians may never know its true potential.

I asked all to see the following you tube posting which has 10M views before buying:

https://youtu.be/GE2W93FBdo8?feature=shared

[Ritesh_Dogar]

Instead of a 4x2 variant, the jimny should be offered in a three door variant alongside the 5 door variant. The small footprint alongwith the 4x4 system makes it perfect and very practical for small cities especially in hilly areas.

[Jaggu]

Thank god atleast there is some sense left in them! What they need is an overall price correction for a built in India product and market afresh in hill country. Rather than neutering the vehicle. Oh wow one more thread for the lil jimiky! lol

[NiInJa]

Might sound absolutely ridiculous, but if they launch the 3-door version with absolutely basic features, retaining the 4x4 capability, at a launch price of say 6.5 lakhs, and make sure they have all accessories available to be fitted at the dealership, not some stupid stickers and plastics, but proper winch, snorkel, offroad tyres etc. will that sell ?

Remember, the old Gypsy too was absolutely basic, but it still had a lot of desirability associated with it, and I've never seen a Gypsy on the road that is not modified.

The Jimny first needs to be used by people, let them understand its capabilities over their years of ownership and then upgrade incrementally. For that, people should get the car at a reasonable price.