The order books for the hugely popular Suzuki Jimny automatic are open again in Australia, after a pause was put in place back in January.
Suzuki Australia had to pause new customer orders of the Jimny automatic on January 19 due to production constraints and high customer demand. The local arm has since only been offering the Jimny and Jimny Lite in five-speed manual form.
But now, the local arm says it has secured 500 units of the 2023 Jimny auto, which will go on sale on September 18, at 12 (EST). Once these 500 are snapped up, the order books will unfortunately close again “until further notice”.
Despite the pause on orders of perhaps the more popular transmission option, Suzuki has managed to shift 3893 examples of the Jimny off the showroom floor. That’s according to August VFACTS figures, which count new vehicle registrations.
That figure is up 7.2 per cent on the same eight-month period in 2022, helping the plucky off-roader claim 10.8 per cent share of the ‘SUV Light’ vehicle class in Australia. It competes with the likes of the Mazda CX-3 (10,708 units), Kia Stonic (5013), and Hyundai Venue (4139).
The current-gen Suzuki Jimny has been well-received by fans and critics since it arrived back in 2019, mainly because it presents a cool yet practical design while carrying through its legendary off-road capability.
Power comes from a 1.5-litre petrol four-cylinder producing 75kW and 130Nm. That might not sound like much but since the SUV only weighs 1075kg (1090kg for the auto), it doesn’t have to work hard at all. I’ve timed 0-100km/h in a best of 12.02 seconds on the PerformanceDrive site in the past. Suzuki Australia general manager for automobile, Michael Pachota, said:
“In response to the resounding demand from our die-hard loyal Jimny fans, we’re thrilled to announce the release of a limited 500 auto units. Don’t miss your chance to claim one, as these Jimnys will be on a first-come, first-served basis and will sell out fast!”
Prices for the GLX automatic start from $33,490, and from $31,990 for the manual. The Jimny Lite manual starts from $30,490 (all excluding on-road costs). The five-door version has been confirmed for Australia as well, but an official launch date has not been announced as yet.
