Suzuki Jimny SUV has weak protection for driver, says Euro NCAP crash test

The Jimny that was tested by Euro NCAP was found to offer weak protection for the driver as the steering airbag did not deploy properly, allowing the (dummy) driver's head to come into contact with the steering wheel during the crash. This prompted Euro NCAP to come to a conclusion that the new Jimny had weak protection for the driver. The Jimny also performed poorly in the offset crash test, with the body deforming significantly.

All in all, the latest Suzuki Jimny off-roader has scored 73 % in adult protection, and has received a rating of 3 stars, which is considered to be poor. The off-roader is currently built only in Japan, and will soon be launched in countries around the world. It's already on sale in its home market of Japan.

The Jimny is offered in two variants – Standard and Sierra. The Sierra variant of the Jimny is the off-road focused model, and is more powerful than the regular variant. Notably, the Euro NCAP crash test was conducted on the regular variant of the 2018 Suzuki Jimny.

The Jimny that was tested featured driver and passenger airbags, side airbags and also a knee airbag. As for other safety features on this off-roader, it features ABS+EBD, traction control, lane assist system, speed alert and a seatbelt reminder system.

The off-roader is a three door, four seater, and is sold as a petrol-only SUV. A 1 litre-3 cylinder turbocharged petrol motor is offered in the Japanese market, while the Sierra variants get a 1.5 litre K-Series petrol motor with 104 Bhp-138 Nm. The engines are offered with 5 speed manual and 4 speed torque converter automatic gearboxes.

The all-new Jimny is built on a ladder frame chassis, and gets a brand-new independent suspension system on all four wheels. While the engine drives the rear wheels in the two wheel drive mode, the part-time all wheel drive system with low and high ratios are offered across variants. Maruti Suzuki has ruled out the Jimny for India citing low demand.