Donna Collins
Suzuki Namibia celebrated the launch of its much-anticipated all-new Suzuki Jimny 4x4 recently with an overwhelming public response, along with the official opening of their modern Swakopmund showroom, to further boost the N$5-million franchise investment whilst growing the popular Suzuki brand in this country.
The Suzuki Namibia franchise which operates its headquarters in Windhoek, trading under Autoworld Trade Centre (pre-owned division), is also now the approved Namibian dealership for the latest range of Suzuki Motorcycles as well. The motorcycle division will run from the new Swakopmund showroom.
Taking an aim at keeping abreast of international Suzuki trends, the brand new Jimny which landed after its world launch, has taken the market by storm, and like Namibia, dealers around the globe are chomping at the bit to keep up with the demand.
Not even the Japanese manufacturers anticipated the Jimny “stampede” ahead of its launch which has been called a “phenomena” by motoring pundits. Not everyone will be lucky enough to jaunt around in one of these spunky 4x4’s for the Christmas holidays, and already the first eight models which landed in Namibia have been snapped up, whilst about 60 potential owners are on the growing waiting list.
Freddy Oosthuizen (Owner Suzuki Namibia) explained that there is a concern over the waiting period for the next batch of Jimny’s to arrive, which could take up to six months. He did add however, that the Japanese Suzuki automakers are making urgent plans to avail a second manufacturing plant to ramp up production and bridge the supply gap for earlier in 2019. He also said that customers would need to put down a 10% deposit if they wanted to secure an order.
“The interest expressed in the new Jimny has been like something we have never seen before, and we are trying our best to keep our customers satisfied, but it is all up to factory supply at this stage,” added Oosthuizen, that the previous Jimny model was also hugely popular.
With its funky new styling inside and out, vibrant colour scheme, advanced new 1.5-litre 4-cylinder engine, plus a high/low transfer gear ratio selector, the Jimny is one of the most capable 4x4’s out there and everyone wants one. It’s a tiny-tough little thing balancing urban warrior and off-road rascal appeal.
It’s functional, economical, and practical and still embodies the spirit of its much loved-predecessor that made it the darling of Suzuki’s 4WD technology since its debut in 1970.
The 2019 Suzuki Jimny, which resembles a miniature lookalike G-Wagon or baby Jeep Wrangler, offers true off-road capability and comes in either a five-speed manual gearbox or four-speed automatic transmission.
The new Jimny is available in a range of new colours, including ‘Kinetic Yellow” for high visibility, designed to stand out in bad weather or rough work sites, as well as Brisk Blue which are the two popular ones apart from the white.
The interior is straightforward, practical, down to earth yet modern, offering a complete upgrade and departure from it’s plainer predecessor. It’s nicely equipped with welcoming specs such as lane-departure warning, improved safety features, a touch screen-based infotainment system that, while basic, includes navigation and Android Auto plus Apple CarPlay, to name some.
There is ample room inside the cabin to seat four people, while the rear luggage space can be expanded by split folding rear seats that lie flat, which is also 53 litres larger than its predecessor. The Jimny is priced at N$275 900 for the base model, to the top of the range 1.5i GLX automatic at N$329 900.