BackThar rival Jimny heats up lifestyle SUV space
Maruti sets ambitious targets for Jimny in domestic, export marketsMaruti Suzuki aims to sell 60,000 units of Jimny in international markets in FY24
PremiumNEW DELHI : Maruti Suzuki, India’s leading automaker, on Wednesday launched its flagship lifestyle off-roader, Jimny, with a starting price of ₹12.74 lakh, ex-showroom. Competitor Mahindra’s popular SUV Thar, starts at ₹13.87 lakh ex-showroom for its base-level four-wheel drive model.
While Maruti Suzuki’s Jimny is available in a five-door version, the Thar is offered as a three-door variant. However, Mahindra is working on a five-door variant of the Thar, which will directly compete with the Jimny, people in the know said, seeking anonymity.
The five-door Jimny holds significant export potential for Maruti Suzuki, as it aims to sell 60,000 units in international markets in FY24, double the 30,000- 40,000 unit sales target it has set for the domestic market. Maruti has close to 30,000 bookings for Jimny since it showcased the product at the Auto Expo 2023 in January.
The lifestyle SUV category in India, however, is dominated by Mahindra’s Thar, which is popular with a large number of urban buyers for its rear-wheel drive variants. The Thar is also available in three engine trims (1.5l, 2l and 2.2l) with both petrol and diesel fuel types. While the Thar’s commanding road presence and off-road capabilities have garnered it a large order book, Mahindra has been making efforts to ramp-up production to reduce waiting periods, which go up to a year for the rear-wheel drive variants. The homegrown automaker is yet to fulfil deliveries for 58,000 bookings for the Thar. The Jimny is a smaller and lighter product, with only a single 1.5l petrol engine variant. It does not come with a rear-wheel drive option.
The lifestyle SUV category is a rapidly expanding sub-segment within the sport utility vehicle market, witnessing sales of nearly 40,000 units last year.
Recognizing the potential of this segment, Maruti Suzuki seeks to capture a bigger slice of the pie, with an expectation to double the segment’s volumes with the Jimny. However, due to its specialized 4x4 capabilities, it anticipates the product to initially cater to a niche market.
“The Jimny has been priced at a premium. It has its legacy and a dedicated fanbase, but the Thar and Jimny are incomparable. Thar is more of a lifestyle vehicle, while Jimny provides value with off-roading capability in five-seater dimensions. It will be interesting to see the safety ratings of Jimny in the coming months to do a better comparison. The high price may deter Maruti to attract higher volumes but should easily cross volumes of competition",Gaurav Vangaal, associate director, S&P Global Mobility told Mint.
According to auto intelligence firm Jato Dynamics, the top-end automatic transmission of the Jimny is feature rich and offers 20 unique features that are not offered by competitors like Mahindra Thar or Force’s Gurkha.
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