-Test car is a two-door model
-Expected to sit under the four-metre mark in length
A fully camouflaged but unmistakeablyy long-wheelbase version of the (Maruti) Suzuki Jimny has been spied testing in Europe. Rough estimates from the pictures indicate that it is expected to hover around the four-meter mark in length and this is expected to be the model that will be offered in India.
The spy images show this version of the Jimny with only two doors but it is an indication of what the five-door model will look like once it is put into production. A very brief glimpse of the cabin indicates that it will get rectangular and blocky interiors of the regular wheelbase Jimny. It is expected that in the five-door model, the front doors and the flared wheel arches will reduce in size to accommodate the second row of doors.
The Jimny in this LWB guise will be offered with the 1.5-litre K15B petrol engine that currently does duty in the Vitara Brezza, Ertiga, XL6, S-Cross and the Ciaz sedan. It produces 103bhp/138Nm and can be had with either a five-speed manual or four-speed torque converter.
The existence of an LWB Jimny was all but inevitable as this two-size model range has existed since the days of the Suzuki Samurai a.k.a the Maruti Gypsy. For the Indian market, the Jimny is already being produced here for export purposes from Suzuki’s plant in Gujarat and they had have already hinted that they are evaluating the car for India. However, in their vision for the next five years, Maruti Suzuki has hinted at a new SUV for India which will be this car in production guise.