Suzuki Jimny five-door launches in Japan, generates four-year wait in less than a week

The five-door Suzuki Jimny has launched in Japan to extraordinary demand, with sales paused after around 50,000 orders were received.

Suzuki has stopped taking orders for the five-door Jimny off-roader in Japan after extraordinary demand led to a four-year wait time less than a week after it launched.

Sales of the Indian-built Suzuki Jimny Nomade five-door – sold in Australia as the Jimny XL – commenced for the Japanese market on Thursday January 30, 2025, however the brand stopped taking new orders five days later.

“Thank you very much for considering our products. The Jimny Nomade has been very well received by many customers, and we have received orders far exceeding our production capacity,” said Suzuki in a notice on its Japanese consumer website.

“Therefore, we will be suspending orders for the time being. We will inform you again about the resumption of orders, taking into consideration the future production situation, etc.”

In a media release, Suzuki said it had received around 50,000 orders of the Jimny Nomade in Japan in less than a week, which “far exceeds” its expected sales for the new model due to arrive in the country in April 2025.

Japanese publication Creative Trend reports customers face a wait time of four years, with Suzuki cancelling planned exhibitions of the new model at events and shopping centres across Japan.

The Suzuki Jimny Nomade is the Japanese-market version of the Jimny XL, which has been available in Australia since December 2023.

MORE: Suzuki Jimny XL five-door price and specs

In Japan, the five-door Jimny is available with a dealer-fitted 10-centimetre tall box to raise the boot area, allowing for a flat floor when the seats are folded, similar to the new Toyota LandCruiser Prado.

It is sold alongside the three-door Jimny Sierra, which is simply called Jimny in Australia, and a Japan-only model with shortened bumpers and a 0.6-litre turbocharged three-cylinder engine to meet Kei car requirements.

In June 2024, Drive reported wait times for a new Suzuki Jimny of between one and eight months in Australia, after order books for the three-door automatic variant were paused for most of 2023 due to high demand.

Suzuki Australia general manager of automobiles Michael Pachota said the local division is “constantly asking for more” stock – while wait times for the Jimny XL were expected to blow out for Australia as it launches into additional overseas markets, including Japan.

MORE: New Suzuki Jimny option takes inspiration from latest Toyota Prado

“I pushed for it very hard to be able to rob my future [Jimny XL] supply and give [overseas markets] a better future supply based on their launch dates,” Pachota said in June 2024.

Drive has contacted Suzuki Australia to confirm the latest wait times for the three-door Jimny and five-door Jimny XL.

The Suzuki Jimny was the brand’s most-popular model in Australia in 2024 with 9697 deliveries – a 94 per cent increase over 2023 – with the off-roader being the nation’s second-best-selling light SUV behind the Mazda CX-3 (a record 18,461) but ahead of the Toyota Yaris Cross (8206) and Hyundai Venue (6949).

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