Maruti Jimny - 3 Lakh Savings; What It Means For Jimny Owners & Buyers — Opinion | V3Cars

More About The Savings

Besides the lower prices, you also get some free accessories with the Jimny Thunder. On top of that, this being a car with a proper ex-showroom price, you also enjoy a lower registration and insurance costs. On a discounted car, you still have to pay registration based on the ex-showroom price. Thus, your net savings could add up to almost Rs. 3.0 lakh. In states with higher registration fees, the savings could be even greater.

Jimny Thunder Vs Normal — Price Comparison

In ex-showroom prices, the Jimny Zeta Thunder costs Rs. 2.0 less than the regular Jimny Zeta. However, the Alpha Thunder is only Rs. 1.0 lakh cheaper than the regular Jimny Alpha variant.

Jimny Thunder — Free Accessory Pack

In terms of additional accessories, the Jimny Thunder gets the following:

• Front bumper garnish
• Front skid plate
• Side door cladding
• Door visors
• Door sill guard
• Outside mirror garnish
• Side fender garnish (front and rear)
• Hood painted garnish
• Rustic tan grip cover
• Off-roader dual-stroke finish
• Tan steering cover
• Interior styling kit
• Designer mat (auto only)
• 3D mat (manual only)
• Exterior mountain graphic (auto only)

What’s Good About The Price Cut

The great thing about the offer is that this is not just a dealer/manufacturer level discount. Most car manufacturers don’t reduce the ex-showroom prices and just provide offers to find a temporary balance in supply and demand. However, this is a proper ex-showroom price correction for the Jimny. So, you will also have to pay lower registration and insurance fees. This further helps improve the realistic savings, which could go up to Rs. 3.0 lakh in several states.

Current Jimny Owners — What Should You Do?

As a Jimny owner, who bought the car at full price, you have all the right to be pissed at Maruti Suzuki. Even if the offer is temporary, the substantial price drop can be infuriating.

Going by just the economic principles, you bought a product at the price prevailing at the time of purchase. So, in theory, you got a fair price as you were okay with the price at the time. Sorry to put it so bluntly, but, technically, you have no right to ask for a refund. Maruti Suzuki don’t owe you anything.

What Could Maruti Suzuki Do?

Maruti Suzuki doing nothing about this situation would still ruin any regards you hold for the brand and tarnish Maruti’s reputation. If history is anything to go buy, you should expect at least a refund of Rs. 1.0 lakh. Perhaps more to numb the pain.

Around the new year of 2016, Maruti Suzuki did something similar with the S-Cross 1.6L diesel. Since the engine was imported, it carried a significant makeup over the 1.25L diesel engine. It ended up coming across as significantly overpriced. So, Maruti Suzuki dropped the prices by around Rs. 2.0 lakh.

When they had lost all hope and didn‘t expect anything but silence from Maruti Suzuki, furious S-Cross owners started to receive calls from the dealership. It was about a cheque in their name. It was for Rs. 90,000 and they offered free extended warranty if the owner hadn’t bought it with the purchase.

I’m expecting to see a refund of between Rs. 1.0 and Rs. 1.50 lakh as a pain management remedy from Maruti Suzuki.

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What Will Happen To Jimny?

History is a great teacher. And it often repeats itself.

To be honest, even the Fronx was overpriced and I didn’t expect it to do well. But it’s doing just fine. I may not like the price but people don’t mind it. Similarly, an overpriced Jimny was also difficult to digest; but this time, I wasn’t alone with digestion problems.

Speaking of history, the S-Cross also launched at higher-than-expected prices and the 1.6 diesel was exorbitantly priced for its time. While the 1.6L diesel got a major price revision, the 1.25L diesel also got a price correction to make it come across as a more reasonable option. Among the C-segment SUV buyers, the S-Cross was never a fan favourite. Besides helping it survive a few more years, the price correction didn’t do it any favours. In fact, after the pricing failure, it never managed to fully recover. So, I’d not be surprised to see the Jimny fade into the background and die a slow, painful death in the coming years.

As a car buyer, it will be painful to see the only real threat to the Thar’s dominance disappear into the ether. With no real competition, Mahindra can continue to ask us to pay an absurd amount for the Thar.

Offer Expiry — Should You Rush To Buy A Jimny In December 2023 Or Wait?

While Maruti Suzuki are calling it a December-exclusive offer, once a car drops in value because of a pricing mistake, it never manages to recover. So, even if the prices go up in 2023, you shouldn't expect them to go back to the older levels. In fact, with some discounts, you can expect prices similar to these even in 2024.

So, no need to rush. If it were that much in demand, we’d not have seen a price correction of this magnitude. However, if you were always planning to buy the Jimny, then this may be a good time to book one. Just make sure to double check the clause that the current prices should be applicable at the time of delivery. Else, the booking amount should be fully refundable. If the dealer can’t promise that, then walk away. Let them chase you!

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