PIMS 2018: Suzuki Jimny--How Long Will We Have to Wait and How Much Will it Cost?

The 7th Philippine International Motor Show (PIMS) is happening right now and will run until October 28 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City, and of the many vehicles on display on the show floor, there was only one vehicle that everyone waited patiently for hours to be unveiled on opening day: the all-new, fourth-generation Suzuki Jimny. However, the excitement behind the revelation of the Jimny was quickly tempered by the news from Suzuki Philippines's (SPI) Automobile Division's General Manager Shuzo Hoshikura that the display at the biennial event was only a preview of its popular mini SUV, that the vehicles on display aren't even Philippine market-spec'd units down to the infotainment system. Apparently, the demand for the all-new Jimny is so great worldwide that even its customers in its home country of Japan have to wait for a year if they placed an order for it today before they can take delivery of it--and that's a cause of concern since the Jimny is only manufactured in Suzuki's Koasi Assembly Plant in Japan. As it turns out, the over 70 Jimny units that Suzuki Philippines brought in will be deployed to all its dealerships nationwide so that prospective customers can look over it and place their order for it as we wait for the Philippine-market units of the mini SUV to arrive on our shores. That's right, what we reported about earlier this week prior to the opening of PIMS is true: SPI is now accepting reservations for the Jimny at PHP10,000 each. As for when we can expect the Jimny to arrive and how much it'll probably cost? Hoshikura expects it to arrive either in July or August 2019 and that it'll be priced "at around PHP1.1 million." So if you want to be one of the first to take delivery of the all-new Suzuki Jimny when it arrives locally next year, we suggest you rush to your nearest Suzuki dealer now and place a reservation for it.