Suzuki Jimny still sold out for six to 12 months as demand continues to rise
The Suzuki Jimny four-wheel-drive remains sold out for up to a year despite the factory ramping up production in an attempt to meet a new surge in demand.
Approximately 2500 Suzuki Jimny four-wheel-drives have been sold in Australia since 2019 – more than 1000 of which have been delivered so far this year alone.
Indeed, official figures show Suzuki Jimny sales have increased by 16.9 per cent in the first eight months of this year versus the same period in 2019 – as the market fell by 20.4 per cent.
When the vehicle went on sale in early 2019, the waiting list instantly stretched 12 months because production was restricted.
Suzuki responded by more than tripling the factory output for Australia, and yet that still has not been enough to shorten the waiting list.
Suzuki Australia boss Michael Pachota says local dealer orders have increased by 30 per cent so far this year versus the same period last year.
“Depending on which dealer you go to, it will be a six to 12 month wait,” said Mr Pachota. “We were hoping to bring the waiting time down to three months but we’re just not going to get there at the moment. The more Jimnys we sell, the more people come in to buy one.”
The Suzuki Jimny is so popular it is no longer listed on the "build and price" section of the Suzuki Australia website.
An online brochure and specification table list all details except the price, which is $25,990 plus on-road costs – which equates to about $28,990 drive-away (prices vary from state to state due to different registration and stamp duty charges).
The Suzuki Jimny remains hugely popular as an urban runabout even though it only has a three-star safety rating, and overseas testing by CarAdvice found the autonomous emergency braking system can be triggered by roadside fencing rather than a legitimate safety concern.
The surge in demand for the Suzuki Jimny in Australia comes as Suzuki of Europe turned the vehicle into a two-seater commercial vehicle to side-step stringent emissions rules for passenger cars.
However, the company says at this stage there are no plans to introduce the two-seater Suzuki Jimny in Australia for the time being.