Suzuki Jimny EV would ruin the pocket-sized 4x4, says boss
Comments made by Toshihiro Suzuki have dampened hopes for the Jimny’s return with electric power
Hopes for an electric version of the beloved Suzuki Jimny 4x4 have been dashed by the brand’s president, who believes an EV would “ruin the best part of the Jimny.”
The most recent, fourth-generation of the Jimny arrived in 2018, but has only been available as a van in the UK since 2020 due to its CO2 emissions, and we recently learned that even that Jimny commercial vehicle will also be axed next year.
But in January 2023, an official product plan graphic featured the instantly recognisable silhouette of the pocket-sized 4x4, hinting that a Suzuki Jimny EV would be one of the five EVs the Japanese brand would launch in Europe by 2030.
However, when Auto Express asked company president Toshihiro Suzuki about when the Jimny EV could be arriving, he responded: “I think it would ruin the best part of the Jimny. I think that the core strength of the Jimny is the right weight.”
He added, “So if you want to keep providing the Jimny to the market as a tool for the professionals, maybe e-fuel or biofuel, utilising the ICE technologies that we have without weight to keep the Jimny surviving in the future.”
The new Suzuki e Vitara has just been revealed as the Japanese brand’s first electric car, and will be arriving next summer. Speaking to us and other media at the car’s official unveiling, Toshihiro Suzuki wouldn’t give a timeframe for when more EVs would be arriving.
“All I can say is look forward to it, but again we have to keep watching how e Vitara sales will go and how the market trends [for EVs].” The only detail he hinted at was that the next model could be smaller than the e Vitara, which is a nearly 4.3-metre long compact SUV that will rival the Kia EV3, among others.
Toshihiro Suzuki also revealed that, while the company will continue to develop its electric car technology: “We are not just going to concentrate on the EVs. Our idea is to merge pathways, such as biogas fuel in India to run the cars; we want to keep our development in parallel.”
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