Want a new Suzuki Jimny but haven’t placed an order yet? We hope you want the manual gearbox and don’t dig the two-tone paint…
Suzuki Australia says its backlog for the Jimny automatic has grown to the point where it has opted to pause new orders for a while.
We heard whispers of such through the dealer network and have since had it confirmed by Suzuki.
The little mountain goat thereby joins the spiritually similar – albeit much bigger and pricier – Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series, new orders of which remain on pause for the exact same reason.
Suzuki Australia management tells us it still holds about 3500 yet-to-be-delivered Jimny orders – with the majority being on the four-speed auto. As such this version has a roughly 18-month backlog based on current factory estimates.
The company also advises cars with the two-tone paint option are subject to longer waits than mono-tone.
Earlier in the Jimny’s life cycle the sales split favoured the manual, but as time has gone by and fewer ‘traditional’ Jimny buyers have plonked down money, this ratio has changed entirely.
This issue will clearly have an effect on resale values of used Jimny autos, prices for which are already inflated.
Jimny background
Australia has become a major market for the Jimny. It was Suzuki’s second top-selling model here last year and remains subject to long wait times after four years on sale.
Suzuki had its best sales performance in Australia for almost a decade in 2022, growing volume 23.5 per cent year-on-year.
The Japanese company sold 21,578 cars last year across Australia (including in Queensland where it has a separate distributor), passing the 20k mark for the first time since 2013 (22,075 sales).
The Jimny accounted for 5697 of these sales last year, up 70.1 per cent.
Hundreds of other people have recently plonked down deposits on a new Suzuki Jimny 5-Door despite the lack of local pricing and spec details, the company claims.
Revealed last week in Delhi, the stretched new Jimny variant is on track to hit Australia in either late 2023 or early 2024, offering more practicality than the cult three-door 4×4.
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