Indian Army rumoured to replace Maruti Gypsy with the new Jimny SUV: Details

Maruti Suzuki Gypsy has been associated with the Indian army for a very long time now. The SUV has been in service for over 30 years and has now started to show its age, it needs a replacement. It is said that there are over 35,000 units of Gypsy SUVs in the Indian army. The production of the Gypsy was stopped in 2018, since the Gypsy is no longer available the army is looking for a replacement for the Gypsy.
Indian army also has ordered Tata Safari Strome and Mahindra Scorpio Classic for their fleet. However, these giant diesel SUVs are no match for lightweight petrol Gypsy. The Gypsy is narrow, has no complicated electronics, reliable Petrol engine, weighs less than a tonne and has 4.1 m of length. These factors made Gypsy a perfect SUV for the Army. The Gypsy was powered by a 1.3-litre NA Petrol engine paired with a 5-speed manual. The SUV also had a 4×4 transfer case.

Maruti unveiled the Jimny 5-door SUV at the Delhi Auto Expo. The Jimny tick all the boxes, just like Gypsy. it’s lightweight, Petrol powered, measures less than 4 m, it’s narrow, has advanced 4×4 tech and gets the convenience of 5 doors too. From this, we can know that the new Jimny is the perfect replacement for the ageing Gypsy. It is rumoured that Maruti Suzuki is already in touch with the Indian army for the induction of Jimny to the Indian army.
It is also rumoured that Maruti Suzuki will supply the Jimny in a 3-door format with some enhancements made for the SUV. It is also said that Jimny will get a soft top and finish in a Dark Jungle Green.

The Jimny 5-door is an extended version of the 3-door model, the SUV has 340 mm more wheelbase than the regular 3-door variant. Dimensionally, the SUV measures 3,985mm in length, 1,645mm in width and 1,720mm in height. It has a ground clearance of 210mm, an approach angle of 36 degrees and a departure angle of 50 degrees.

The Jimny 5-door is offered in only two variants – Zeta and Alpha. The SUV gets features such as a 9-inch Suzuki smart play touchscreen infotainment system with Arkamys sound system, automatic climate control, push start/stop, LED auto headlamps with washer, fog lamps, semi-digital instrument cluster, steering mounted control and 15-inch alloy wheels. Safety features include 6 airbags, an anti-lock braking system (ABS), and electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD).

Talking about the powertrain, the Jimny will be powered by the 1.5-litre K15B NA Petrol engine which comes paired either with a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic. This engine puts out 105 bhp of power and 134 Nm of torque. It also gets Maruti’s mild-hybrid tech. The Jimny 5-door gets Suzuki’s AllGrip Pro 4WD system with a manual transfer case and low-range gearbox with ‘2WD-high’, ‘4WD-high’ and ‘4WD-low’.