Maruti has been supplying its Gypsy to the Indian Army for more than 30 years, making it one of the most favorable vehicles of the Indian Army, but, now with the launch of the new 2023 Suzuki Jimny, Our Indian Army may have a new 4X4 SUV for its military operations.

 

Indian Army has been using the Suzuki Gypsy in its GS500 Range for 4 reasons, which favor the Suzuki Gypsy over any other 4x4 SUV in India.

 

Weight –

The Suzuki Gypsy weighs 985 kg making it one of the lightest 4x4 Off-road SUVs in India and favorable for the Indian army as the mass transportation of the vehicle becomes more accessible and can be easily carried via air carriers in large numbers and because the car weighs so less, it becomes easier to rescue the vehicle from muddy or sandy terrains. We were even shown a spectacular act of dismantling the Gypsy by the Indian Army few years ago, this tells us on of the reasons why car's weight matters so much to our soldiers.

 

Payload Capacity –

For the GS500 Category vehicles of the Indian Army, the vehicle should have at least 500 Kg payload capacity, but the Suzuki Gyspy has a 600 Kg payload capacity making it highly suitable for army use, but the real USP of Gyspy comes with the fact it performs better with higher payload making it more stable and a better off-roader.

 

Engine –

The Gypsy was offered with a 1.0l petrol engine making it highly useful in extreme temperature terrains as petrol has a freezing point of -60 degree Celsius as compared to -3 degrees Celsius for diesel, and simultaneously petrol engines are much easier to repair with fewer technical parts making it easier for the army to maintain.

 

Dimensions –

The Gypsy has unique dimensions compared to any other 4x4 SUV in India. The Gypsy is around 90 mm shorter than the Thar and about 18 mm less wide than the Thar, which makes it a great off-roader due to the less wheelbase and easier to load in heavy numbers and transport throughout the country.

CONCLUSION

The Gypsy is itself a king and a legend when it comes to all these factors. But now the 35,000 gypsies with the Indian army are becoming old and need to be replaced by some other capable 4x4 vehicle with similar specifications, and the new Suzuki Jimny ticks almost every box for it.

In which the new Jimny weighs only 1200 kg (200 kg heavier than before), has a 1.5l petrol engine, and has a length of under 4 meters, but the only drawback is that the Jimny has only 350 kg payload capacity, 150 kg less than the government requirement, but Suzuki can easily do some tweaks to make it capable of handling a much higher payload.