Maruti says bookings for Jimny jumps post price reveal, focus now on production

Maruti Suzuki Jimny is the latest SUV from the company in India and is making some very big promises. Essentially the first-ever lifestyle SUV from Maruti Suzuki, the Jimny may trace its global roots back several decades even as it hopes for a firm footing in India. The Jimny pricing starts at ₹12.74 lakh and goes up to ₹15 lakh (ex-showroom).

India is the first market in the world to get the five-door version of the Jimny SUV. And Maruti Suzuki has pinned a lot of hopes on the model even though it now boasts of a diverse SUV portfolio which includes Fronx and Brezza on the one end and the Grand Vitara on the other. Bookings for the Jimny were opened in January when the model was first showcased at Auto Expo 2023 and the company now claims it has seen an increase in reservation orders post price reveal.

Trim	Price (ex-showroom)
Zeta MT	₹12.74 lakh
Alpha MT	₹13.69 lakh
Alpha MT (DT)	₹13.85 lakh
Zeta AT	₹13.94 lakh
Alpha AT	₹14.89 lakh
Alpha AT (DT)	₹15.05 lakh

Speaking to HT Auto, Shashank Srivastava, Senior Executive Officer for Marketing & Sales at Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) explained how the priority is to ensure quicker delivery schedules to customers. “We now have more than 31,000 bookings for the Jimny. We announced the prices on the 7th (June) and post that, we have seen there is a jump in the booking pattern," he said. “Prior to the price announcement, we were getting bookings at the rate of about 92 per day. But now, after the price announcement, we are getting at around 150 per day. So in that sense, it (pricing) has been well accepted and we are now looking at ramping up the production to be able to deliver the vehicles as quickly as possible."

Watch: Maruti Suzuki Jimny SUV: First Drive Review

The Maruti Suzuki Jimny enters a space where Mahindra Thar has been dominating ever since the model was updated in November of 2020. There has now been a raging debate around the pricing of the two lifestyle SUV models even though while Thar has 4x2 and a 4x4 versions, all of Jimny variants offer 4x4 capabilities. Maruti points to this - among other key factors - to highlight that the Jimny pricing is absolutely on point. “We debated a lot on the pricing aspect. (But) One thing which was clear to us was that if you want to preserve the inherent brand value of the Jimny, and it's a legacy built over so many years, we had to have only a four wheel drive option," said Srivastava. “All Jimnys are 4x4 and of course in India, all are five-door versions."

Srivastava further explains that the reason for the spurt in bookings post price reveal of the Jimny could point to how customers are weighing the value proposition - among other factors - of the vehicle. “The Jimny buyer is an experienced car buyer who already owns at least one other car - whether a Maruti or something else."

Expansion and diversification of Maruti SUV models

Maruti Suzuki has minced no words in underlining its ambitions of dominating the SUV space in the country, eyeing a 50 per cent market share in the body type segment by end of this year. And most of the SUV models - barring Brezza - are relatively new.

But what about the risk from cannibalisation? No risk, if Maruti officials are to be believed. “The Jimny is a niche product, there is a clear distinction between those who are eyeing Jimny and others looking at our other SUVs. We believe that there will be very little cannibalization," says Srivastava.

So is the unwavering focus on only SUVs and the upcoming Innova-based MPV called Invicto? “We already have a very good connect with first-time car buyers. For entry hatches, our market share is 90 per cent. The thing is, the category itself should grow. We will retain our position and market share in that segment while we make forays into the other segments and try to gain market share from there because the market has shifted to some of the other product categories like the SUVs."