No more Jimnys for Australia.

Hi all. I just attended an invite by my local Suzi dealer after being hassled all week about it. Well, perhaps it was worth it after all as I found out that when my little Jimny is out of warranty (in another 2 years on the 5 year warranty) that I will NOT be able to "upgrade" it to a new one. What the dealer says is one thing, but in this case they had a Suzuki Rep there, Ryan the Canadian. He was able to confirm this and the explanation was that the current build of Jimny no longer complies with the current ADR,

My 2013 build does not have side air bags. The new ones do not have side air bags and Suzuki have no plans - at this stage - to include them. This seems to be the only thing that has made Suzuki pull the plug on Australian sales. However, they will still be manufactured and sold around the world.

In Australia, these are now rare and will ultimately become "collectors" only.

Now, in my own thinking, there is something quite amiss with all of this. It goes like this: The Jimny is NOT a passenger vehicle, it is indeed a truck albeit a small one. It has a ladder frame, it is a true 4WD and it is not intended as a road type sedan. The ADR on PASSENGER vehicles makes stipulation about whatever it is, but Commercial vehicles (includes TRUCKS, vans, 4WDs etc) have no requirement to comply!

I mentioned this to "Ryan" from Suzuki and suggested that Suzuki Australia get their legal team on to it...

I read your post yesterday and I'm a little surprised. Not so much by the possibility that Australia may stop importing the Jimny but having expected a lot more replies. I guess my own reply would simply be to wish you luck on Suzuki chasing the legal route and giving you my condolences if the importation ends.

Having originally lived in the U.S., I saw the same thing happen to the Samurai. Suzuki simply saw it as a bad investment to keep chasing U.S. emission and safety standards for a vehicle they saw as a niche market. They continued producing them for a number of years but they were no longer available in North America. Honestly, I think this is the sad destiny for all "real" 4 wheel drive vehicles.

Surely Suzuki could fix this by selling the Jimny as a van. Probably 90 percent of owners never use the rear seats anyway and I'm sure that this would sell well in other markets too.

There is a new Jimny due in 2017 so that may come with the side airbags. Whether it will be a true 4x4 like the old one is anyone's guess though.

zukebob wrote: I read your post yesterday and I'm a little surprised. Not so much by the possibility that Australia may stop importing the Jimny but having expected a lot more replies..

Its an old story, perhaps thats the reason for lack of replies ?
Im sure I first read about it on here a couple of years ago.
Ive not done a search to check.

Suzuki are replacing the current Jimny very soon. Maybe next year. So you aren't really going to miss out on much.

I'm fairly sure the replacement won't be of much interest to anyone that needs to go off-road.

Iansea wrote: There is a new Jimny due in 2017 so that may come with the side airbags. Whether it will be a true 4x4 like the old one is anyone's guess though.

It could be a better machine, time will tell.

The same reason was given about stopping 70 series land cruisers being imported however Toyota have managed to fit side bags and stability control into the 79 series Utes we use. There is no reason Suzuki couldn't fit NGV seats to comply with the side airbag laws.

The difference is the 70 series Landcruiser is an incredibly popular work vehicle in almost every industry throughout Australia and would be sorely missed by thousands. The Jimny doesn't have the same market share and Suzuki are historically crap at adapting to markets.

Hate to say it but i think your wrong.......... Went to Suzuki yesterday, there is a new Jimny coming late 2017 or 2018, an its got side air bags and a 1 litre, 3 cylinder turbo motor....

That explains why the local suzuki dealer is ignoring my enquiries about jimny.
I worry about a 3 cylinder turbo coping with an aussie summer.
Even subaru wrx had a recent recall for cracking engine parts.
Maybe better to keep the na 1.3 four cylinder.