2022 Suzuki Jimny demand 'still unbelievable': Baby 4WD selling like mad as Australian wait list hits record levels!

The Suzuki Jimny small 4WD is selling better than ever before, with the Japanese brand’s local distributor seeing unprecedented demand for the compact off-roader.

Wait times for the Jimny had ballooned out to several months in 2020, but a new ordering system has eased the pain for some would-be customers - a few months is a more likely wait time now.

Suzuki Australia managing director Michael Pachota told CarsGuide the love for the Jimny - which currently has no direct competitors near its price point - has been a huge boon for the brand.

“Demand is still unbelievable. It has grown from the levels it used to be at - currently, it’s greater than 2000 cars on backorder,” he said. “In the past six months, we’ve seen a 38 per cent increase in orders from customers.

“That situation was challenging in the beginning, but it’s better now, based on a system we introduced last year.”

Mr Pachota acknowledged the frankly exorbitant prices the current-generation Jimny is fetching on the used-car market, but stated that dealers have been told to play fair on prices when it comes to new orders.

“We did get some feedback based on what dealers were pricing their cars at. We’ve found that dealer pricing is fairly reasonable - they can’t overprice a car. The used-car market is where the really high prices are - they know there’s a huge wait list on the car, so people are buying new cars from dealers and then reselling them at a profit,” he said.

Currently, there are Suzuki Jimny models with “demo kilometres” on the odometer being advertised at almost twice the MSRP list pricing of the new car. How does $46,990 drive-away for a Jimny with 13km on the clock sound, when the list price is supposed to be $28,490 plus on-road costs for the manual model?

Mr Pachota said the brand is working to ensure prices are fair, and in 2021 the brand introduced a no-frills version called the Jimny Lite to try and satiate the demand somewhat. 

The Jimny GLX is also set to gain a new media system as part of a range-wide change for MY22, with all Suzuki models scoring a new 9.0-inch touchscreen multimedia system in place of the existing 7.0-inch unit with built-in sat-nav.