The company doesn’t want to veer away from the Jimny’s off-road DNA.
Maruti Suzuki, which introduced the successor to its immensely successful off-roader Gypsy in the India in the form of the five-door Jimny SUV earlier this year in June, has ruled out the possibilities of a cheaper, two-wheel-drive (2WD) variant of this globally-acclaimed SUV.
- Jimny 2WD could dilute the brand value
- Not in active consideration despite customer interest
The compact Jimny – re-engineered into a five-door version specifically for the India – has not seen a great start in terms of sales volumes, which have hovered in the 3,000-unit monthly ballpark since launch.
The reason for the Jimny’s slow offtake can be primarily attributed to two things – its intended positioning as an off-roader and a slightly optimistic pricing, which is pegged in the range of Rs 12.84 lakh to Rs 14.89 lakh, ex-showroom, arising customer feedback for a less expensive 2WD version. Conversely, the Mahindra Thar was also launched as a 4×4, but later got a 4×2 variant which has seen great customer interest.
According to Shashank Srivastava, Senior Executive Director, Sales and Marketing, Maruti Suzuki India, “While we have received feedback from several customers asking for a 2WD variant of the Jimny, it will go against the Jimny’s core brand ethos.”
“Globally, Jimny is an off-roader, and it will be a dilution to the brand if we introduce a two-wheel drive variant. Therefore, a 2WD Jimny is not in active consideration, and we will continue to sell the 4WD version,” Srivastava added while addressing the media in a press conference on December 1, thus confirming our previous report about the Jimny not getting a 2WD version.
To give a boost to the relatively sluggish sales of the Jimny in the carmaker’s portfolio, Maruti Suzuki had introduced discounts of up to Rs 1 lakh during Diwali, and has become more aggressive with the schemes by slashing the prices of the entry-level manual-transmission variants by Rs 2 lakh for a limited period, starting December, to make it available at Rs 10.74 lakh, ex-showroom.
As per Srivastava, it was the lesser availability of components for the automatic variants that skewed initial production towards the manual variants, leading to the significant discounts for a limited period, but the supply chain has now improved considerably.
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