Five-door Suzuki Jimny ‘Long’ due in 2022 with turbo power, sub-$35,000 price – report
Reports out of Japan claim the five-door Jimny ‘Long’ will launch next year, with turbo mild-hybrid power and a mild price rise over today’s three-door.
The hotly-anticipated Suzuki Jimny five-door will arrive in 2022, according to new reports out of Japan, bringing more power and practicality to the popular baby off-roader.
Japan’s MOTA claims the five-door Jimny will wear the ‘Long’ moniker, with a debut slated for sometime in 2022 – intended to allow Suzuki's resources to be devoted to responding to booming new-car sales demand, and to solve ongoing global supply issues (including the semiconductor shortage).
The off-roader’s wheelbase will reportedly be stretched by around 300mm – as estimated from spy photos of a long-wheelbase three-door prototype spied in March – with "significantly increased" rear-seat legroom and boot space.
Answering calls for more power from enthusiasts and buyers alike, driving the Jimny Long is said to be a turbocharged petrol engine, assisted by a fuel-saving mild-hybrid electrical system.
Power, torque and fuel economy figures are not yet known, however MOTA claims the turbocharger will be added "to compensate for the weight increase" – though a safe estimate would peg outputs as approaching 110kW and 250Nm.
Visual differences between the three- and five-door models – aside from the aforementioned set of rear doors – are claimed to be minimal, though the latter is slated to gain a flagship "high-end specification reminiscent of the... Mercedes-Benz G-Class", with a unique grille (featuring a sole horizontal slat) and machined-face alloy wheels.
MOTA claims the five-door Jimny will be priced 300,000 yen (AU$3500) higher than an equivalent three-door model in Japan, which costs from 1,793,000 yen (AU$21,100) to 2,057,000 yen (AU$24,200) in its home market.
Applying that increase to Australia would suggest a local list price of around $32,700 with a manual transmission, or $34,500 with an automatic – though both figures remain estimates (before on-road costs), with Suzuki unlikely to release pricing until one or two months prior to the car's Australian launch.
The 2022 Suzuki Jimny Long five-door will be unveiled in Japan in 2022, according to MOTA.
Given the three-door Jimny launched locally around six months after its global unveiling, expect the five-door version to arrive Down Under by the end of 2022 – should the Japanese publication's information prove true.
While Suzuki Australia has yet to confirm the Jimny Long's existence – let alone an Australian launch – it has previously indicated interest in such a model, with local boss Michael Pachota telling Drive in early 2020: "Suzuki Australia does have its hand held high if there is ever a possibility of this variant in future."
In the meantime, orders continue to flow in for the Japanese brand's three-door off-roader faster than its factories can keep up, with lead times extending to 12 months – though internal restructuring measures, along with more production capacity opening up for Australia, promises to cut wait times to six to eight months.