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New Suzuki Jimny 2021 turns into light-commercial vehicle - but not baby Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux rival

This Jimny might look familiar, but it’s actually a light-commercial vehicle.

Suzuki has officially transformed the Jimny off-roader from a four-seat SUV to a two-seat light-commercial vehicle (LCV), but the end result isn’t the series-production single-cab ute we were all hoping for.

The new LCV replaces the SUV in Europe, where even stricter emissions regulations for passenger cars will be introduced next year, forcing Suzuki to temporarily axe the popular but pollutant Jimny in July due to the negative effect it had on its fleet average.

Given LCVs are subject to more lenient emissions regulations in Europe, Suzuki decided to remove the Jimny’s two rear seats and add a partition behind its first row so that it could be reclassified accordingly, perhaps as a very small van.

As such, the LCV isn’t all that different to the SUV, with its other changes including a minor 33L increase in rear compartment space with only the front seats in use, to 863L, while the boot floor is now completely flat due to the removal of the second row.

Yes, that means the European-market Jimny is still powered by a 75kW/130Nm 1.5-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder petrol engine, which is mated to either a five-speed manual or a four-speed torque-converter automatic.

Suzuki has removed the Jimny’s two rear seats and added a partition behind its first row. Suzuki has removed the Jimny’s two rear seats and added a partition behind its first row.

As reported, this European change has no impact on Australia, which continues to get the SUV version of the fourth-generation Jimny that has been a sell-out success since its launch in January 2019, with buyers still waiting up to 12 months for delivery.

For reference, the manual and automatic variants of the Australian-market Jimny are priced from $25,990 and $27,990 plus on-road costs respectively and come with a part-time four-wheel-drive system with low range.