Concept Jimny Sierra Pick Up Style shown at the Tokyo Mobility Show in 2019. Image: Suzuki Suzuki has once again ruled the possibility of a Jimny bakkie out due to an apparent “lack of buyer demand”. Although shown as a concept in the form of the double cab Jimny Sierra Pick Up Style at the Tokyo Mobility Show six years ago, Hamamatsu’s Chief Cngineer, Takamitsu Sasaki, has confirmed that a number of factories are preventing such a model from becoming a reality.
While based on a ladder-frame chassis, Sasaki said extensive re-engineering would be needed to accommodate the loadbin in making the Jimny a bakkie, regardless of whether it uses the current three or five-door bodystyle as a base. “If we were to make a Jimny truck, we would have to make it very durable, and that is very difficult. To put a lot of weight on the backside, we need to make the frame stronger,” Sasaki told Australia’sdrive.com.au.
His comments come after an unnamed Suzuki Australia spokesperson toldcarexpert.com.aushortly after the Sierra Pick Up Style’s reveal that “we can’t talk about future plans, but it’s not something I’ve heard of. It’s not on the agenda”. Despite prior reports and renderings suggesting the return of the Equator, a name used in the United States for a Suzuki-badged version of the D40 Nissan Navara between 2008 and 2012, the availability of aJimny bakkie in New Zealandwill remain bespoke as it doesn’t come with any Suzuki input.
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This is a Suzuki New Zealand initiative only that they themselves are responsible for, especially when it comes to aftersales,” former Suzuki Auto South Africa Media Liaison Officer, Toni Herbst, toldThe Citizen, two years ago. “This won’t be considered for South Africa; the cost involved is also not viable and there are also strict regulations in South Africa that need to be adhered to.” Months before, Suzuki General Manager for Australia, Michael Pachota, said demand for a Jimny bakkie had been expressed and that extensive lobbying had taken place for a such a model to become reality.
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