Top 7 Things The Maruti Jimny Offers Over The Mahindra Thar

The peppy off-roader from Maruti is finally here to finally give some competition to the affordable lifestyle SUV segment’s previously unchallenged leader

The affordable lifestyle SUV segment in India has finally expanded with the arrival of the Maruti Jimny. While the prices are yet to be announced, this five-door off-roader will be a key rival to the Mahindra Thar. We’ve already compared the specification and feature differences between the two sub-4 metre offerings, but here’s a list of what the Jimny offers OVER the Thar:

Rear doors for easier access

Even though the five-door Jimny remains a four-seater offering, the addition of the rear doors makes it easier to access those rear seats. Meanwhile, getting in and out of the rear seats in the three-door Thar is comparatively cumbersome. 

Usable boot space

The increased length of the India-spec Jimny also comes with a longer wheelbase which does open some legroom in the rear seats, while the rest seems to have been used to offer a usable boot. With the rear row in use, the Jimny offers 208 litres of luggage space which is considerably more than what the Thar has. Both still offer a side-hinged tailgate with a spare wheel mounted to it.

Functional rear windows

The rear window panels of the three-door Mahindra SUV with the hardtop are fixed in place. Meanwhile, the five-door Jimny gets functional rear windows which are better for rear passenger comfort in the top trim, they’re electrically operated.

Six airbags

Maruti premiered the Jimny as a well-equipped model with a lot of safety features as standard, including six airbags. While the Thar proved its safety credentials with the four-star safety rating from GNCAP, it is not offered with more two front airbags in any variant.

Auto LED projector headlamps with washers

The Jimny’s front fascia may not be as imposing as that of the Thar, but it does have better utility with the LED projector headlamps with small DRLs too. It even comes with headlamp washers to keep them clean and your visibility unimpaired while off-roading. The Mahindra SUV only gets halogen headlamps and they don’t even come with the automatic function.

Bigger central display

The new five-door Jimny is offered with Maruti’s new nine-inch infotainment touchscreen system called SmartPlay Pro+ paired with a four-speaker Arkamys sound system. It also supports wireless connectivity for Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Meanwhile, the Mahindra Thar comes with a seven-inch infotainment touchscreen with dated graphics and housed in a rugged but less-than-premium design.

Auto climate control

A small but useful comfort feature present on the Maruti Jimny is the auto AC with the digital readout in the climate control console. The Mahindra Thar only comes with manually adjusted AC, even in the top variant. 

There are some of the functional advantages offered by the new five-door Jimny over the three-door Thar. Bookings are underway for the new Maruti Nexa SUV with the launch expected by March 2023. It is expected to be priced from Rs 10 lakh, while the Mahindra Thar, in its rear-wheel-drive form, also starts at Rs 9.99 lakh (both are ex-showroom prices).

Read More on : Thar diesel