Suzuki Jimny News

One of the most hotly anticipated cars of 2019, the Suzuki Jimny, has been crash tested by Euro NCAP - the Japanese manufacturer's are unlikely to be popping champagne over the result.

Suzuki's cult-classic 4WD has at last been confirmed for Australia, with the off-road-focused Jimny to launch locally early next year.

Suzuki's baby boxy SUV has been unveiled ahead of its launch next month, with fresh images of the fourth-genertion Jimny dropping on the brand's international website.

Suzuki Australia has dropped its APV light-commercial van and drastically slowed sales of the Jimny four-wheel drive because of tightening emissions and safety regulations.

Some cars refuse to die. The original Land Rover is the best example, with the last one just built after 68 years.

New safety regulations brought into force from today herald the end of the Chinese-built Chery J1 city car and the Great Wall X240 SUV. The new laws require all new vehicles sold to have stability control -- a feature neither of those two offers. The Chery J1 has been a slow seller this year, beset by stiff competition from mainstream brands that saw it slice its price from $11,000 to $9,990 driveway. However even with the price drop, it has sold only 744 this year to the end of September -- down from 969 at the same time last year. The $23,990 Great Wall X240 SUV has fared even worse in sales, moving 340 year to date compared to 849 this time last year. Other vehicles affected by the new laws include the Suzuki Jimny Sierra, however some vehicles that miss out on stability control -- including the Toyota 70 Series LandCruiser and Foton Tunland -- are classified as commercial vehicles and therefore exempt from the ruling. This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott  

It's the Suzuki Jimny - also known as the Sierra - and there is no sign yet of of its death.The tiny little off-roader has been sold in 188 countries worldwide and Australia was one of the first, as Suzuki even claims to have invented the recreational four-wheel drive category ahead of Toyota."It's been one of the foundation stones. It's part of Suzuki's DNA. It's gone from a baby workhorse to a recreation four-wheel drive," says Tony Devers, general manager of Suzuki Australia.Work on the Sierra - originally called the LJ10 - began in 1968, when it was powered by a baby 360cc two-stroke engine. But it had a robust ladder chassis with dual-range four-wheel drive. The second-generation LJ20 came to Australia in 1974 and was upgraded to a three-cylinder engine, with a pickup called the Stockman also in the range, from 1975.Development has continued down the years, with bigger engines and a slightly bigger body, but the basics remain the same. Suzuki Australia even re-launched the Jimny Sierra last year with a new price push from $20,490 and claims of category leading fuel economy of just 7.0 litres/100km.It will never win an award for comfort or refinement, but Suzuki says it is still a worthwhile member of the family."We are selling about 1000 a year in Australia. It is now a niche product," says Devers. "What has evolved from the Jimny is the Grand Vitara, and Suzuki's all- wheel drive SX4 models. It's part of the jigsaw puzzle. The beauty of them is that there is a waiting list on the used-car front. People love them for beach work and fishing and that sort of thing."

This year the North American International Auto Show did not disappoint with a huge range of cars – some mildly sensible, some downright ridiculous.One of the more ludicrous offerings was Suzukis’ X-HEAD. Looking more like a Tonka truck than a serious off roader, the X-HEAD is said to have more capability than a mere toy. It combines the off road readiness of the Suzuki Jimny and Grand Vitara with the load-carrying capacity of the Suzuki APV van from Japan.Lexus’ LF-A Roadster is one concept not to be chuckled at however. The engineers and designers at Lexus continue to use their groundbreaking LF-A concept as a medium for expressing their ideas about what a high-performance sporting vehicle not only can be but should be. A very sleek road machine.Sit back and enjoy this image gallery from day 1 of the 2008 Detroit Motor Show to see into the future of the motoring world.

Suzuki Australia is kicking into the donation tin to help fund the fight to save two endangered species, the Tasmanian Devil and the Black Rhinoceros.The Australian arm of the company is promising to donate $30,000 (based on projected sales from every new Grand Vitara and Jimny sold) to breeding and protection programs for both animals.About $10,000 and two vehicles will be donated to the Tasmanian Devil breeding program being run at Healesville Sanctuary, Victoria. The Devils are part of a survival program that hopes to ensure the species can bounce back from an outbreak of Devil Facial Tumour disease.Healesville Sanctuary is one of four mainland zoos now caring for 47 Tasmanian Devils as an “insurance population”.The remaining $20,000 will go to the Black Rhino program based in Tanzania, where conservationist Tony Fitzjohn has established a Black Rhino wildlife reserve.Poaching of Black Rhinos for their horns has cut the breed's population from 65,000 in 1970 to just over 2500.Suzuki Australia general manager Tony Devers says the company is proud to provide support to help the two species.“The Black Rhino and the Tasmanian Devil are renowned as tough creatures, making a link with the legendary tough Grand Vitara SUV an obvious one,” he says.A website has been created by Suzuki Australia  savetherhino.com.au which has more information on the projects as well as links to other sites and ways to donate. 

There is a clear-cut champion in the compact four-wheel-drive class.It is the Subaru Outback, which does easily the best job for the majority of shoppers who want the size, comfort and command driving position of a soft-roader but don't plan to do much of the rough-and-tough weekend work in the bush.The Outback is a high-riding and tougher-looking Subaru Liberty wagon, which means it is a new-age station wagon for people who are convinced that four-wheel-drives are the best bet for the 21st century.But it's not the only way to go in a class which is as varied as any in Australian motoring.The all-paw smalls are a split-personality line-up which ranges from serious bush buddies to suburban shopping trolleys, with everything in between.Some talk the talk, but don't go remotely close to walking the wilderness, and others are surprisingly capable despite their soft-form looks. And looks aren't always the best – or easiest – way to make a choice.The Daihatsu Terios has the high-rider style you expect to see in a serious four-wheel-drive, but it could have come just as easily from the world's best-selling carmaker – Matchbox.The Suzuki Jimny is much the same, though it can really romp in the rough and is priced from just $17,990.At the other end of the action, there are several contenders which push past $40,000, including the over-priced and under-done Land Rover Freelander.The compact class also opens the options between "all-wheel-drive" vehicles focused on blacktop work and "four-wheel-drive" vehicles with serious off-road grip and dual-range gears, in a battle which rages all the way to the $100,000-plus machines in the luxury four-wheel-drive world.The split between the soft-road and hard-rock vehicles means it's important to split the winners, with the Nissan X-Trail taking top honours for real off-road work and the Subaru Forester and best-selling Toyota RAV4 – now with a punchier 2.4-litre engine – scoring on the soft side. The Outback was completely updated last year and picks up the five-star safety and top quality from the latest Subaru Liberty.But it also gets a tougher look, extra ground clearance, rough-road tyres and all the other gear you need for weekend expeditions.The price is pretty rich in a class where most of the action is below $30,000 – the H6 engine can lift it from $31,180 to more than $50,000 – but it's the one to recommend to friends and family if they can afford it. The Nissan Patrol is a heavyweight four-wheel drive star and you can see and feel the family connection to the X-Trail.It has the stumpy looks of a serious off-roader and backs it with a 2.5-litre engine hooked to a grippy drivetrain and a tough body.Nissan has also created a funky cabin for the X-Trail, with all the right stuff for twentysomething owners.It's not cheap, with pricing from $31,990, but the price is right for the class and the competition. The Forester, like the Outback, was developed for rougher roads than the regular all-paw Subaru family wagons.So the Forester sprang from the Impreza, as the Outback did from the Liberty, but with a much bigger change to the body.The Forester looks like it will work off the bitumen and it does, provided you recognise its limits.It also comes with a punchier turbo engine, though it's not WRX, and Subaru Australia has just rejected a Forester STi which would have really rocked the compact four-wheel-drive scene.