Suzuki Australia has instructed its dealers to cancel existing customer orders and return deposits for the popular five-door Suzuki Jimny XL, following a stop-sale order issued for the same model last month.
A Suzuki dealer bulletin issued late last week and obtained by CarExpert today extended the previous advice to pause sales of the Jimny XL, to now cancel previous orders from customers who are still awaiting delivery of their vehicle.
The bulletin advises dealers that customers who wish to remain in the queue for a Jimny XL may do so, but Suzuki Australia is urging its retailers to return typically non-refundable deposits to customers who placed orders.
The advice – which does not impact the Japanese-built Jimny three-door – comes amid the ongoing stop-sale order for the Jimny five-door, which is bult exclusively by Maruti Suzuki in India.
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Suzuki Australia has not disclosed the reason for the Jimny XL’s stop-sale order and says its parent company in Japan is still investigating.
“I’m hoping I get something this week [with an end date],” Suzuki Australia managing director, Michael Pachota, told CarExpert.
“We still don’t have an outcome from Suzuki Motor Corporation head office in Japan on what the quality control issue actually is,” the Suzuki boss added.
“Obviously, they haven’t asked customers to take cars off the road, so it’s not a safety issue.
“I believe this is the most transparent and customer-centric course of action at this time and the best thing to do for our customers that are waiting on delivery of a new Jimny XL.”
“It’s customer service first, and our customers are not only the end users of our cars, but also our dealers – they need to know they have our full support.”
The Jimny – which has gathered a cult-like following since its launch in Australia in 2019 – is Suzuki Australia’s most popular model, with the stop-sale stalling sales locally.
“There’s peaks and troughs,” Mr Pachota told CarExpert.
“It is a bit of a slowdown for us; we have cars on grass that we’d love to park in customer driveways ASAP.”
Sales of the Jimny were down 12.9 per cent in July. The stop-sale order was issued on July 25, so its impact is set to be more significant in August.
It’s unclear whether Suzuki could shift production of the Jimny XL from India to Japan to rectify the issue.