Customer feedback, Jimny’s Future - Reality Check

Maruti Suzuki is ready to launch its car in the compact SUV segment in India. Jimny is their world-class product to compete with compact SUVs which, are already present in India. Jimny has been available globally for over 50 years. Maruti Suzuki is hoping for the success of Jimny in the Indian subcontinent. To do that, Maruti has started analyzing the feedbacks of the customers to make sure that if they launch the product, they wouldn’t see a fall in the sales of their vehicle in India.

Maruti is currently manufacturing the Jimny in the Gurugram manufacturing plant and will produce a three-door Jimny, which is globally more prominent than five-door Jimny. Maruti will export these Indian-made units to African and middle east markets. This three-doored model is known for its off-roading capabilities because of its compact size and will presumably help new budding adventurers in the country. Being a compact SUV, many people can afford it over the traditional SUVs for their adventure purposes.

The senior director of MSI said that this segment of compact SUV looks promising and is worth releasing such a product. It is the reason Maruti exhibited the Jimny in Auto Expo 2020. This exhibition has brought in various feedback from the potential buyers of the Jimny, which are positive. Now, the company has decided to analyze this feedback to predict if Jimny has a future in India or not. The car, which has been in the market for 50 years, should have the future in the Indian market because the company rules the top-selling charts every month.

Shashank Srivastva, MSI Senior Executive Director, stated that such lifestyle SUV segment is smaller than the rivals, but some customers fall in the category who prefer such small SUVs as a family car or, for any other work that requires small SUVs. Before launching the SUV in the Indian market, the company must pay extra attention from the pricing to the supply components. Everything must be carefully evaluated because it will determine the future of Jimny.

COVID has delayed many plans of MSI. From the introduction of the products, but now that industries are functioning, they are hoping for releasing everything on time. MSI is currently examining the segments and looking to make these segments their stronghold points and search for more opportunities in the segments. MSI wants to make themselves permanent in the mid-SUV segment, which has a low market share than their rivals. Maruti says that Vitara Brezza is their top-selling vehicle in the SUV segment and the market share of the Maruti in this particular segment is about 13-14 percent. The reason why Maruti is going through so much is that Jimny is loved all over the world because of its practicality and simplicity, and Maruti wants to receive the same success and admiration from the Indian mass. Furthermore, the presence of Mahindra Thar in the Indian sub-continent and its success prompted the Japanese Manufacturers to launch Jimny to compete with it.

As Jimny is the center of the debate, let’s talk more about the car rather than its parent company and its plans. Jimny is a 4X4 SUV ready to be launched and compete with the existing SUVs like Thar, Gurkha, Punch, etc. It has the same 1.5L engine (naturally aspirated), which is present in Brezza, Ciaz, S-cross, Ertiga, XL-6 in India. Jimny has a horsepower of 140 bhp and generates 130 nm of torque. It comes in both manual (5 gears) and automatic (4-speed torque converter) transmission.

The Indian market will eventually decide if Jimny will have any future in India like its company cars. SUVs in India are already tough competitors to beat, and Jimny needs a lot to present to stand out.