Maruti Suzuki has commenced the trial production of the upcoming Jimny SUV at its Gurgaon facility, states a Team-BHP report. The company's official records suggest that it has already assembled one unit of the SUV at the Gurgaon plant. It is being learnt that the first unit of Maruti Suzuki Jimny was assembled via a Completely Knocked Down (CKD) kit imported in September. We were already told by the folks close to the development that the automaker intends to make India an exclusive production hub for the Jimny.
As per the report, Maruti Suzuki will initially start with assembling the imported CKD units. However, the company is in talks with several vendors for the local manufacturing of the components to keep the costs in check. The company will not only assemble the 3-door version of the Jimny in India but it also intends to develop the 5-door version here. For those asking, Maruti Suzuki Jimny 5-door version will only be for the Indian market while the 3-door version would be purely for export to various European and Asian markets. The home-grown automaker has planned to develop 4000-5000 units of the Jimny which will help it in improving its export market share from a dismal 7 percent to a whooping 20 percent.
Maruti Jimny India launch will take at least a year or so if not more as the company intends to take the localization to the highest level in order to offer an aggressive pricing. So, in all likelihood, we may not see it on the Indian roads before early 2022. Maruti Jimny price is expected to be under Rs 10 Lakhs, so that it can give the Mahindra Thar and Force Gurkha a run for their money. Needless to say, the Jimny will be retailed via Maruti Suzuki's NEXA chain of premium dealerships. It could be powered by a BS6 compliant 1.5L 4-cylinder K-Series petrol engine which we also saw with the global-spec model at the 2020 Auto Expo. It will deliver a top power of 103bhp and peak torque of 138Nm while linked to a 5-speed manual and a 4-speed automatic transmission. An AWD system could also be in offing.
Image Source - Rushlane
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