New Suzuki Jimny option takes inspiration from latest Toyota Prado

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A new dealer accessory for the five-door Suzuki Jimny appears to ape one of the latest Toyota Prado 4WD’s most controversial design feature

The Jimny five-door has just gone on sale in Japan as the Nomade, a year after arriving in Australia under the XL badge, and sourced from the same Suzuki factory in India.

The five-door’s rear seats do not fold flat with the cargo area floor, so to prevent a ‘step’ that longer items must be lifted over, Mag-X reports Suzuki Japan will offer a 10cm-tall box as a dealer accessory that raises the boot area by 10cm to match the folded seatbacks.

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A similar box is offered on the three-door, but it is built into the car as standard, and lower, so it takes up less space.

The five-door Jimny’s boot box is similar to the latest Toyota LandCruiser Prado, which has a elevated cargo area in Australia due to space needed for hybrid components under the floor.

While the battery for the mild-hybrid system on Australian Prados is small, Toyota has elected to mount it in the cut-out used for the larger battery in petrol-hybrid models sold in the US, forcing the cargo area to be raised.

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It has drawn particular criticism in seven-seat models, as there is no space for the third row of seats to fold into the floor, so Toyota has fitted a large cargo box to raise the load floor to match the height of the third-row seatbacks when they are folded.

The Jimny option is priced from 29,700 yen ($AU310) in Japan, above the 2,651,000 yen ($AU27,160) base price of the car with a manual transmission.

Drive has contacted Suzuki Australia to confirm if the accessory will be offered locally. It is not listed on Suzuki Australia’s website.

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