Introduction

The Maruti Suzuki Jimny is coming to India. That’s confirmed. What we also know is that the India launch will take place early next year around the Auto Expo. But, the bigger questions remain; questions regarding the price, the versions, and its inevitable comparison with the Mahindra Thar. And since we are so excited about the Jimny coming to India, we thought we’d share our list of expectations, and, of course, the reasons behind them.

The Market

One thing is given - the Jimny isn’t going to set Maruti’s sales charts on fire. Its numbers aren’t even going to come close to the average sellers in Maruti’s stable. And we are not talking about the initial months following its launch, because this period - also known as the honeymoon period - will most certainly see a healthy uptake. After all, the first few months of most new car launches see the early adopters hoard. And with this particular Maruti, there’s also the pent-up demand to consider. However, it’s when the dust settles that one sees the true potential of a new product, which in Jimny’s case isn’t going to rock anyone’s world.

Having said that, Maruti still needs the Jimny.

Think Maruti and the same set of things cross almost everyone’s mind; things that have defined Maruti in customers’ minds forever. Things like affordable maintenance, easy serviceability, reliability, good resale, and poor crash-worthiness. One or more of these things may or may not be true for Maruti’s current lineup, but that doesn’t change the fact that the majority still believes it.

What Maruti lacks as a brand then is desirability.

Past heroes, It did have that in the past though, with the likes of the Gypsy, the Esteem, the old Baleno, and the old Zen. Now, it wasn’t like these products were outstanding in every imaginable way. They were good, no doubt - reliable, efficient, affordable to maintain - you know, the typical Maruti things. But, it was the story that was built around them that put them on the pedestal among enthusiasts. Stories that manifested into reality proved the said range’s prowess in the real world. And with it, making them desirable. That story was Maruti Suzuki Motorsport (MSM). The racing, the rallying, the raid, the jumps, the slides, the performance mods, and the adrenaline rush made heroes out of these daily drivers.

There’s no MSM today. And there won’t be one soon. After all, the reason Maruti quit motorsport was because it wanted to put its customers in the driver’s seat and the company wanted them to experience the joy of its cars instead of it being limited to just racing or rally drivers. But truth be told, Maruti hasn’t built on that. Furthermore, with MSM gone, Maruti hasn’t had halo products to attract enthusiasts today. It was tried with the Baleno RS. And then to a degree with the Ignis. However, these were just positioned as enthusiastic-centric mainstream products; without a story or real-world achievements backing them. But imagine if we saw the Ignis at a rally - jumping, sliding, kicking its two wheels in the air around a bend - we all would have wanted one. Whether we would have bought one is another question, but we most certainly would have salivated over it. And that’s half the battle in my book.

The Jimny

The Jimny is Maruti’s opportunity to highjack the enthusiast’s conversation. It is the perfect tool for a mass-market brand to infuse desirability into it. Now, this off-roader isn’t a vehicle that’s designed to please everyone. And when launched in India, it won’t be the most spacious or comfortable or brilliant car to drive, even in its segment. Needless to say, its buying appeal then will be restricted. However, it will be focused. It will have character. And for both the Jimny’s and Maruti’s sake, I hope the latter focuses more on the story than it has done for its more recent launches. And those who buy into this story - of it being a true go-anywhere vehicle - will find it more than agreeable. This story will have to be about conquering the unconquerable; about David triumphing over Goliath; and the small and adorable outwitting the big and butch. But most importantly, the story will have to be lived in the real world; it will have to involve buyers and prospects; and will have to be taken to one’s doorstep. It will have to be democratised. The key to the Jimny’s story will be its price. For the whole ‘David vs Goliath’ string of storytelling to work, the Jimny will have to be significantly cheaper than the Mahindra Thar. It has to justify its size - or lack thereof; and the fact that it only has a near-100bhp, 1.5-litre engine. But it will also need to offer depth in its range to capture the various niches. So, Maruti must first launch both the three- and five-door versions of the off-roader.

The three-door

The three-door version is already being produced in India for the export markets; it already has high levels of localisation; and it need not be tweaked extensively to suit the typical Indian car buyer’s sensibilities. but instead, the three-door version should only come in a no-frills, off-road focused trim. It should come with steel wheels, no fancy high-tech features, and just the basics like power steering, aircon, and an entry-level audio system with Bluetooth connectivity. And, it should carry a nine-lakh price tag. This model will have the potential to get conquest sales from those lining up and gathering funds to buy the Thar. These are enthusiasts who have toiled with the idea of buying used 4x4s but have finally decided to get something reliable and more modern. And with Thar being their only option currently, they are playing the waiting game. These are proper adventure and off-road enthusiasts. These are the buyers that will prove to be brand ambassadors for Jimny spreading the word of mouth and populating social media with their own stories. And therefore, the three-door will be key.

The five-door

The five-door will have an equally important role to play in the Jimny story. Maybe even a more important one. Now, we have already spotted mules of the five-door version under testing, and the five-door will be longer, roomier, and possibly more comfortable than the three-door. And it needs to be. You see not everyone who wants to own a 4x4 is a hardcore off-road enthusiast. Some believe that they have the 4x4 gene in them. They believe they will one day explore the impossible, take on the trails less taken, and surf through deserts unexplored. But today they need something that the family will accept. Something that’s affordable to buy and run, easy to get in and out of, but will still tell the world that the person driving isn’t confined by corporate walls. This is where the five-door Jimny will make sense. What’s more, it will have to come packed with features. One can think of it as a less comfortable, less dynamic, but apocalypse-ready, river-wading Brezza in the ZXI trim. But in the end, we are a market that judges prices based on size. And if Jimny has any hope of finding a healthy set of buyers, Maruti will have to look at the Brezza as a pricing benchmark, and not the Thar.