In 1909, Michio Suzuki founded Suzuki Loom works in a small coastal village in Japan. Today, that company is a multi-billion dollar car, motorcycle and ATV manufacturer. A big part of Suzuki’s success has been creating vehicles that are compact, reliable and efficient. One of the best example of this is the Suzuki Jimny 4X4.
The original Jimny was classified in Japan as a Kei car, the smallest highway-legal class of car in Japan. With gas prices around four dollars a gallon, it’s no surprise that Kei cars like the Jimny make up a third of new car sales in Japan. First manufactured in 1970, the Jimny was actually a re-design of a jeep like vehicle built by the Hope Motor Company in 1967. When Suzuki bought Hope in 1968, they used their SUVs as inspiration for the Jimny LJ10 (Light Jeep 10). But the modern Jimny has evolved and matured into one of the most popular off-roaders that is in very high demand.
The demand for the fourth-generation Jimny is so high, the Japanese manufacturer's local facilities could not keep up to match the production. Suzuki was forced to have the Jimny being manufactured in India. However, even today, the latest Jimny is still not sold in the US due to crash safety as well as emission regulations. No matter how much we want the Jimny to come to the US, its probably not going to happen.
Update July 2022: This article has been updated with fresh information about the Suzuki Jimny.
The Suzuki Jimny: The World's Most Capable Tiny Car
The first generation of Jimny, was mechanically speaking identical to Hope Motor’s ON360. It had a 359cc air cooled, two stroke motor with two-seats and four wheel drive. The Jimny’s body however, was a tribute to the Willy’s MB Jeep of the 1940s, with the same square body, round headlights and slotted grill.
But would the 359cc engine be strong enough to deliver the same off-road performance as its full-size competitors?
It turns out that the Jimny’s size and off-road performance actually helped fill an emerging niche in the global car market and helped establish Suzuki as a global automotive brand. Additonally, there were two other enginer options, 539cc inline-3, and a 797cc inline-4, but a 4-speed manual was standard across the range.
The Second Generation and the Suzuki Samurai
Unlike many American cars, which are sold under the same name for decades and usually change alot, the Suzuki Jimny has has changed very little in its 50 years on the market. For the second generation of Jimny, Suzuki expanded the body style and engine offerings. These new Jimny’s, sold under many different names, were popular all over the world. In the United States, they were sold as the Suzuki Samurai and became the smaller more compact alternative to the Jeep Wrangler. Unfortunately in 1988, The Samurai came under fire when Consumer Reports called for a recall of the car. CR claimed that the Samurai was prone to toppling over and was not safe to drive, but sales continued until 1995. This generation of the Jimny first arrived in 1981, but was introduced in the US in 1985. It only went out of production in 2018. Over the years, it was offered with seven engine options with the largest being a 1.4-liter inline 4, but two diesel options were available globally
Stepping Into the 21stCentury
The third generation of the Jimny unveiled in 1998 looked less like a Jeep and more like a 90’s CRV or Geotracker. In spite of past safety concerns in the United States, the car sold well in Asia and South America. In April of 2007, a pair of Chilean drivers broke the record for highest altitude attained by a four wheel vehicle by driving a modified Jimny up Ojos del Salado, the second highest mountain in South America.
The Jimny Today In Its Fourth Generation
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In 2018, Suzuki unveiled the latest iteration of the Jimny, which looks like a mixture of Jeep Renegade and G-Wagen. Infact, you can get kits to make your Jimny look like a G-Wagen, Classic Defender or even a land Cruiser. The JDM spec base model is a Kei car that is powered by a 658cc inline-3 turbo. However, the more popular, larger and global spec Jimny uses a 1.5-liter, naturally aspirated inline-4 engine that makes about 100 hp and 101.8 lb ft.
If the Jimny were sold in the U.S, it would provide off-roading enthusiasts with alternative to the Wrangler that is just as capable and at the same time cheaper and smaller. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to find a new Jimny in the U.S. As early as the 1990’s, Suzuki was being out-competed in the mini SUV category by companies like Honda, and in the 2000’s companies like Kia and Hyundai beat them in the small car category.
By 2012, Suzuki of North America filed for bankruptcy and Suzuki pulled out of the American Market. However, while we shouldn’t hold our breath for Suzuki to come back to the U.S, American car brands might answer the call. In 2021, Ford will release the Bronco and Bronco Sport, a more compact version of the Bronco complete with All-Wheel-Drive. Hopefully, it will match the off-road performance of the Jimny.