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newsNew Suzuki 2019 Jimny 4x4
The little Suzuki 4-wheel-drive car has a long history. I owned
an original model in the 70s, an LJ50 2-stroke. It was awful driving on
the road, fantastic off. In the mid-80s I briefly owned a Sierra, with
1.3 litre 4-stroke engine, and as I recall, if was OK driving on the
road, and took it for country trips -- it was even OK on the highway --
but then, my standard was probably quite low, as I had always owned very
small cars.
Both of those were purchased second-hand. Now it is 2019 and Suzuki
are advertising a brand new Jimny. The Jimny models superseded the
Sierra models. The advertised price here in Australia (by Suzuki
Australia, the importer) is AU$23,990 plus on-road-costs.
I enquired with local Suzuki dealers, and they are asking AU$27,990
drive-away price. That is a big jump from AU$23,990. Am I getting
cynical in my old age? A cynical person might think that the price hike
is cleverly contrived. And then there is an extra AU$500 for any colour
other than white.
There is no discount, you buy at the price they ask, and go into the waiting list. I am drooling over it, very fond of that little car, but probably won't buy one. Suzuki, if you put it on sale later this year, you will tempt me...
EDIT:
It seems that my cynicism was misplaced. Suzuki was genuinely surprised by the sales of the new model. They have one factory in Japan running 23 hours per day, and are planning to utilize another plant.
Australian Suzuki distributor:
https://www.suzuki.com.au/vehicles/suv/jimny
Review:
https://www.carsguide.com.au/car-reviews/suzuki-jimny-72749
There are plenty of YouTube videos, here is one with some on-road testing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGnrZDuCUwQ
An off-road video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nIcqx23kl8
Tags: tech