Australians lining up for stretched Suzuki Jimny five-door

Suzuki Australia says it’s already fielding quite a lot of enquiries concerning the long-wheelbase five-door Jimny 4×4 – a automobile that formally doesn’t but exist, however which is clearly across the nook.

As these spied pictures of a late-stage prototype automobile revealed in July present, the extra sensible Jimny spinoff is edging nearer to a reveal, although we’re nonetheless connecting some dots.

Anticipated to start manufacturing within the first half of 2023, the Jimny five-door will construct on the success of the three-door – which broke its Australian delivery record last month and stays topic to lengthy wait instances regardless of launching greater than three-and-a-half years in the past.

It’s clear Suzuki Australia is extremely taken with getting the five-door right here to faucet into this unrelenting demand. The Jimny’s famously devoted fan base is exhibiting nice curiosity, as confirmed to us by Suzuki Australia basic supervisor Michael Pachota final week.

“It’s nonetheless a hypothetical automobile. However with that mentioned, the attention round spy pictures and so forth, [it] has intrigued so many potential patrons on the market available in the market, particularly in Australia,” Mr Pachota mentioned, including some individuals had already tried putting an order, regardless of the automobile not truly being revealed and even formally confirmed.

“I can inform you, simply primarily based on the extent of intrigue, and the quantity of buyer suggestions that we have now had by means of our social channels, and even basic enquiries of individuals hitting us up asking when it’s coming, that it [would do] in addition to, if not higher, than the three-door, for my part.”

There are nonetheless extra questions than solutions across the longer Jimny, together with what engine it’s going to use (the three-door’s 75kW and 130Nm 1.5-litre petrol wouldn’t be a lot for a five-door automobile), how a lot greater will probably be although it appears so as to add round 300mm, and what its inside security and tech options will likely be like.

Earlier rumours have prompt the five-door Jimny would share the naturally-aspirated powertrain, however our spy photographer famous on the time the prototype was driving “with none engine noise”. This implies the Suzuki Jimny five-door might have some type of electrified hybrid powertrain possibility.

Suzuki makes the three-door Jimny in each Japan and (as a CKD equipment) in India, with Australian automobiles coming from the previous. It’s unclear what the sourcing plan for the longer model will likely be, however it might technically be both.

Suzuki Australia’s success with the three-door Jimny.

The present-generation Suzuki Jimny simply had its greatest ever month of Australian buyer deliveries in August, having been on sale right here for one of the best a part of 4 years.

It delivered 672 Jimnys to prospects final month, taking the year-to-date whole to 3630 models – up 70 per cent. It was Suzuki’s top-selling automobile in August by some margin.

Regardless of the improved provide that means extra Jimnys are going into buyer fingers, Suzuki says demand is barely rising with time – regardless of the actual fact it doesn’t even trouble to promote the one-of-a-kind child 4×4.

Which means these wait lists will stay an element.

“The order-write is so large that even when we proceed with these sort of numbers, we nonetheless wouldn’t be capable to clear our again orders properly into this subsequent 12 months,” Mr Pachota informed us this week.

Wait instances have been out past 12 months, relying on grade and color, with the corporate changing its back-end processeses in Might final 12 months to attempt to ease wait instances.

Within the meantime, they’re going for a reasonably penny within the classifieds. The really useful retail worth tops out at $31,490 earlier than on-road prices of some grand, but there are at the moment 117 going for above $40,000 on Carsales.

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