CARVERSAL

This is a car which has proven that to make a bold appearance, you don’t always need to have a huge stance. If the product manages to connect emotionally with the audience, why won’t it be the first choice of everybody when it comes to Off-roading.

We are talking about a car which defeated the Thar sometime back. We are talking about a car which has always been the first choice of Army Personnel. We are talking about a car which has a sweet spot in the hearts of people from the 90's. We are talking about THE MARUTI SUZUKI JIMNY.

But, today things are different! Today the Jimny is available in its 4th generation avatar in India. And though it has such a confident history behind it, people are still cancelling their bookings of Jimny.

What do you think? Why are people doing this?

Has Maruti Suzuki been bought by a Chinese brand that people are avoiding it?

Come on, let's find the answer!

Well firstly, It has not been bought by a Chinese brand and to know the answer we will first have to understand its history.

Jimny, or Gypsy the name of the car when launched, was first brought to India in 1985, as a 3-door Off-roader. Back then, it came up with a 1.0 liter petrol engine which was then replaced by a 1.3 liter petrol engine producing 67 bhp. It received its popularity when INDIAN ARMY started to use it in their operation grounds -  as it was a light weight off-roader which suited their needs - This made the Gypsy’s popularity and respect go sky-rocketing high. And people started buying it just because the Indian Army uses it and also because it had Cheap Maintenance. A very few people actually bought it for its actual purposes though.

Fast forwarding to 2010’s, where the Thar had entered the market a few years back to compete with the Gypsy. But it did not really make any change in the cult fanbase that Gypsy had. Though, people were going through a transition at that time, where they started looking for value in the car they wanted to buy. And Maruti really didn’t make any change in the Gypsy, in-terms of Technological Features for 30 years.

At last as you guess, the popularity for Jimny was falling. People were more leaned towards utilitarian cars which were providing more value as well as practicality compared to Off-roaders. Cars like the Thar and Gypsy were bought by a very niche audience only. 

And in 2019, the Gypsy was discontinued due to poor sales.

This was the end of our beloved Gypsy… this is what everyone thought. And then comes Maruti with a huge bomb in AUTO EXPO 2023 , which took place in January 2023. Where they showcased the JIMNY and confirmed the launch in May 2023. This really boosted up the nostalgic attraction of people towards the Jimny. And just after 9 days of the official unveiling of the car in the Auto Expo, the car received 9000 bookings, as Maruti started accepting bookings of the car for ₹ 11,000 from the day of unveiling. Gradually, till June 2023 the bookings went up to 31,000 , after which even Maruti grabbed the opportunity and raised the booking amount to ₹ 25,000. The hype was real! People were excited, as they were expecting a better and cheaper alternative to the Thar.

And then Maruti disclosed its pricing and everyone’s mouths were widely opened, in shock. They set the pricing of the Jimny from ₹ 12.74 to 15.05 lakhs and just to tell you, Thar happens to be 2 lakh cheaper than the Jimny.

And from here, we get the answers for our question - Why are 80% people cancelling their bookings of Jimny?

Space

Jimny is a compact car and this small size could fit just 4 people in it. This reason stands above all. People in India love travelling in a car which has enough space to get them into a comfort-zone and Jimny is not that spacious. Practicality takes a brutal beating because of this.

Only 211 liters of Boot space

I know, I just talked about space but boot space in India matters a lot. So, it needs to have an independent point. 

211 ltrs of boot space is not enough for longer journeys and neither for the purpose this car has been built for. Off-roading. In Off-roading you need to carry a lot of tools which are must. And considering the sizes of all accessories, they just can't fit in there.

Lack of power on Highways

I understand that a piece of paper doesn’t need wings to be flown away, but it needs winds. So even if your car is a light weight car, how can you expect it to perform well with less power provided?

1.5 L K-series, naturally aspirated, 4 cylinder engine → 105 bhp & 134 Nm of Torque. This engine today is used in the Jimny. It performs amazing off-road but on-road is one the slowest engines available. I do know that it's an off-roader but they would never run on the highways and especially in India where people buy a sports vehicle and take it to Ladakh, it's proven that they want their vehicle to do everything. So, the booster jet engine could do wonders in the Jimny.

Overpriced

After having all these characteristics in the Jimny, Maruti still priced it at a premium of 12.74 lakh - 15.05 lakh rupees, with just 2 variants available ZETA and ALPHA. The buyers turned their heads as soon as they got to know about these prices. It is extremely unconvincing to buy a product at a price of 18 lakh rupees, which manages to provide you with a 4 x 4 system, Very average space, Decent practicality, Few modern age features and Lacking power.

Waiting period of the Jimny

Imagine, after buying this overpriced product for ₹ 18 lakh, you still have to wait for 6 - 7 months to get your car, it is so not fair! Compared with the Thar Petrol Hard Top variant ( as the Jimny is available in petrol only ), the Thar just has a waiting period of 2 - 3 months. So, why would no one shift onto a product which is more powerful, more affordable, from a real SUV brand, average in terms of practicality and can be delivered early.

Even though its an Off-roader, it needs to be altered a lot to make it prepared for bad terrains

Okay, let's imagine that you bought the Jimny just as an off-roader, still there are so many limitations in front of you. Being an off-road lover, you would change plenty of mechanical parts to enjoy your ride and make it more easy. One of the first changes would be tyres. The wheels of this car are just 15 inches in size and it doesn't have much space between the wheel arch and the tyre. Which ultimately brings only one option in front of you, which goes like - 

First add a lift kit to raise the suspension height to increase the space between tyres and the wheel arch then change the tyres accordingly to the space you have been provided with.

And this isn’t it, there are too many long routes for you to take to reach your desired destination, which is a customized off-road car. It just adds too much of inconvenience.

Well, this concludes my analysis on “why the Jimny bookings are being cancelled?” If Jimny would have rubbed the edges well, it might have gained its position back of being the Segment Leader. But, it might look that the Jimny is not a good product compared to the Thar or Gurkha. But I would say everyone is good in their own way and these are some of my personal opinions which will help you understand, “Why did Maruti make Jimny such a product?”.

• May be the reason Jimny is expensive than the 3-door Thar is because it's actually not meant to compete with it. Maruti would have priced it accordingly to compete with the 5-door Thar. And that’s why, it has been priced expensive already, so, it can be prepared for what the Thar 5-door might have to offer.    

• Maruti would have saw this as a golden chance, as you barely get a practical Off-roader at this price range - Thar 3-door does not have enough space and Force Gurkha is practical but it has much less to offer in-terms of value - So, this was a clear win-win situation for Maruti to bring in a product which is slightly better than the mentioned products in different aspects and, to price it a bit expensive so, that the customers who need practicality will have no other choice but buy it as it is.

• It's hard for it to be your Primary car, which will be used for everything, but, it could sure be your -