So Many People Want A Four-Door Jimny That Suzuki Had To Close Order Books After Just Four Days
The rugged little Suzuki Jimny, briefly sold in the U.S. as the Suzuki Samurai, was strictly offered as a two door since its introduction in 1970. Suzuki introduced a four-door in some markets like India, South Africa, and Australia in 2023, and Suzuki finally opened the order books for Japanese-market four-door Jimnys on January 30. It was an instant hit, and the company received so many orders that it had to suspend all further orders after being open for just four days. There were around 50,000 orders placed, but the sole manufacturing plant that produces four-door Jimnys can only produce 1,200 units per month so those 50,000 orders back up production for the next 3.5 years.
When the Suzuki Jimny was redesigned in 2018 to look like the adorably rugged offspring of a Jeep Wrangler and a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen, the internet went berserk for it. It managed to combine a cute and likeable face with enough off-road machismo to draw affection from all types of people – CarWow video presenter Matt Watson, who has driven hundreds of incredible cars, even bought one for himself.
The three-door Jimny is a tiny little truck that has compromised ergonomics, but adding two more doors makes it significantly more appealing to a wider audience, much like the Wrangler's trajectory once Jeep started selling four-door Wranglers. Suzuki Japan issued an apology and explanation on its website, roughly saying, 'The Jimny Nomad has been very well received by many customers and orders have been placed significantly more than the production capacity. Therefore we will suspend orders for the time being.' The sole plant that produces the four-door Jimny Nomade is Suzuki's Gurugram plant in India, and this plant produces all the Jimny Nomades that get exported to countries including Latin America, South Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and now Japan.
The Jimny Nomade comes standard with part-time four-wheel-drive with a low-speed transfer case, and it's powered by the same 1.5-liter I4 that produces 103 horsepower and 99 pound-feet of torque as the two-door. It's offered with your choice between either a five-speed manual transmission or, shockingly, a four-speed automatic, and its base price in Japan is 2,651,000 Japanese yen, which converts to about $17,200. The four-door Jimny Nomade costs about $4,500 more than the cheapest two-door Jimny Sierra in Japan.
Autocar India clocked a four-door Jimny's 0-to-62 mph time at a pretty friggin' slow 14.59 seconds. Don't worry about how slow it will be on U.S. roads, though, since there are no plans to bring it to the U.S. market. The Jimny Nomade is an adorable, capable, cheap, and now practical little truck that has proven to be very desirable. If Suzuki can increase production and federalize the Jimny Nomade, it would sell like proverbial hotcakes. Until then, I will be busy drooling over Mexican market Jimnys that I occasionally spot on LA roads.
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It is the lightest, and on our flat, featureless black lake it laid down the best lateral grip and figure-eight numbers along with the second-best braking and acceleration results. But out in the curves, as the only contestant without air springs, it trails the other two in ride comfort with lumpy and noisy impacts and busy body motions—it's simultaneously too soft and too firm. Our judges found themselves making small course corrections in sweeping turns as the Navigator ran out of compliance and took a set, and its absurdly slow 20.7:1 steering requires abundant flailing to parallel park. The combination of air springs and adaptive dampers eliminated this phased cornering situation on the others. Cadillac's hyperaggressive stability control thwarted our test team's efforts at laying down impressive track numbers, but we can attest our Sport Platinum test car felt more sure-footed on lightly traveled county roads. It might even have taken top honors in ride quality in one of the Luxury trims or on the base 22-inch wheels. (This one wore $1,800 worth of 24s.) As configured, however, the Grand Wagoneer grabbed the brass ring of ride supremacy with a body structure rigid enough to eliminate secondary body shake and a general feeling of 'there is a layer of cream cheese between the road and the Jeep,' as one of our drivers described it. The Jeep's engine feels every bit as impressive as its spec chart implies, delivering on its 18–27-percent weight-to-power advantage every time you crack the throttle, accompanied by what sounds like the muffled cries of a BMW imprisoned in the engine room. Speaking of noise, the Navigator EcoBoost's native V-6 dialog gets translated into V-8ese by the radio speakers, while the Cadillac's natural V-8 gets a lot of exhaust whoosh overlaid as both twin-turbo sixes run away from it. 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So despite legitimate nits to be picked with its big screen's functionality and despite its third-place finish in every performance category but braking (hey, pony up for the V-series or IQ variants if you're always in a hurry), the Escalade performed all its intended functions superbly while looking, feeling, and telling the world it was priced way more than $5,000 above the others. Just maybe spring for the 40-speaker AKG? 3rd Place: 2025 Lincoln Navigator Pros Pampering spa features Clever tailgate Best second-row thrones Cons Ride quality isn't the best Front comfort Road and faux-engine noise Verdict: The best Navigator ever comes within an air-ride suspension and a few more interior spiffs of the winner's circle. 2nd Place: 2025 Jeep Grand Wagoneer Pros Rolls-Royce ride quality Hemi-worthy I-6 power Stupendous McIntosh sound Cons Looks like a cheaper Jeep Yestertech dash Nagging hands-free drive mode Verdict: Jeep arrived at this party with all the right credentials but looking like it didn't quite know what to wear. 1st Place: 2025 Cadillac Escalade Pros Linen- and wood-lined interior feels special Power doors Super(ior) Cruise Cons Secondary ride shake Heavy 24-inch wheels Big-screen utilization Verdict: The king of Interstate 75 remains the perennial moving target its crosstown rivals must continue to aim at.
Motor 1
a day ago
- Motor 1
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