What's the Fate of Maruti Suzuki Gypsy?


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350Z

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Have a maruti gypsy in excellent condition, auctioned from army only 8 k kms done,fully painted (white) new battery,new hood ,lights etc, wide tyres & alloy wheels (set of 5) . want to sell for 3.21 L
Welcome aboard. How about sharing a review of your Gypsy? Please visit The Automotive India Marketplace to list the car for sale.

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350Z
 
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"For maruti i am the king" hope everyone remember this advt

I am really waiting to see the all new king with dragon heart with a minimum of 140 bhp on road back from its Den.
 
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Haven't they been planning to replace Gypsy with Jimny for a long time now?

Where I used to live, when my car would go in for major work the dealer would give me a 2-door 4WD model to use for a few days. Since I only used it briefly I have no idea about the running costs or reliability, but it was quite comfortable. The gear-shift was a bit soggy and it was quite slow, but probably faster than the current Gypsy king! [;)]

Although it's not brilliant, it would definitely be a great replacement for the Gypsy if they can keep the price low!
 
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My friend had one and it was brand new..am talking about 10 years ago and they were class.

My question remains the same why not diesel ?
 
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My question remains the same why not diesel ?
Some random reasons:

1. Petrol Gypsy costs Rs. 6 lakhs ex showroom. Adding a diesel motor would push it beyond Rs. 7 lakhs. Who would pay that much for a vehicle with leaf springs, no power steering and no air conditioning? In other words, is there a market for a bare basic diesel 4x4 that sells for Rs. 8 lakh on road (how many 4x4 Thars does Mahindra sell per month?)?

2. Added weight of the diesel motor may impede the off roading prowess of the Gypsy.

3. Homologation costs of a diesel Gypsy may not justify its production.

4. Which diesel engine? Can the 1.3 DDiS be conveniently fitted inside the Gypsy engine bay? If not, then how easily and cost effectively could Maruti source an alternative suitable diesel motor?

5. Majority of Gypsy sales are to the defence forces, police, government organizations, and PMFs. 70% of our Army is deployed in the Northern sector and Gypsy is their preferred vehicle because petrol engines perform better than diesel engines in high altitude areas (spark ignition vs compression ignition) at this price range.

6. Weight of the diesel engine = heavier steering = need for power steering = price goes up.

7. Would the volumes justify undergoing all the abovementioned expenditure on R&D/homologation?

8. Is it feasible to do all this on such an old platform?
 

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Interesting
that makes sense
well when my friend had it he complained about the fuel consumption back then.

no power steering is a joke man. We are in 2014 and they can't add a power steering.
well if they want to make Gypsy live the life again then they will have to spend some money on R&D
Mahindra Jeep is another option for similar price if am not mistaken ?

Air Con and PS are the basics. Then it comes to tweak the suspensions. Chassis of these things are so light and so do the shell. I reckon if they sell these for around 7 lacs they will still sell. If putting a diesel option rockets sales why not ?
 
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IMHO I think Maruti needs to revamp the Gypsy platform. It will be expensive, but considering that right now sales are mainly attributed to the Govt. sector, if they make it a more usable vehicle they may get some off-road enthusiasts as clients.

First thing to go will definitely be the suspension, leaf springs have slightly militant characteristics that are entirely unsuitable for personal use.

They should try and build a vehicle that can work both on and off the road well to attract some attention.

The old Grand Vitara was a good example of this but the new one is basically a soft-roader with limited off-road capability!
 
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they may get some off-road enthusiasts as clients.
Viru (where's Jai:lol!:?), you do have a point but I guess true off road entusiasts are never satisfied with a factory built off roader. Look at the Thar - Behram Sir did painstaking research with actual off road enthusiasts to understand what they want and when the Thar was launched, he was saddled with responses like "awwwwww no differential locks", "awwww independent front suspension", "awwwwww what about articulation", "awwww turbocharged engine", "awwwww common rail head", "awwwww axle ratio so low", "awwwwww no hard top", "awwwwww HT tyres", "awwwwww exhaust hanging so low", "awwwww plastic dashboard", "awwwwww awwwww awwwwwwwww..."

As I mentioned in my previous post, Maruti aint doing nothing for charity. They won't touch the Gypsy unless they see a cash cow. So the basic reason for not updating the Gypsy at this point in its product life cycle remains the tremendous cash outlay required to alter the Gypsy to make it more user friendly (R&D, CMVR, Homologation) vs. return on investment, which as per my understanding of finance, does not add up at all.

But, I have to say, for such an old design, it still looks so impossibly cool, no?
 

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Viru (where's Jai:lol!:?), you do have a point but I guess true off road entusiasts are never satisfied with a factory built off roader. Look at the Thar - Behram Sir did painstaking research with actual off road enthusiasts to understand what they want and when the Thar was launched, he was saddled with responses like "awwwwww no differential locks", "awwww independent front suspension", "awwwwww what about articulation", "awwww turbocharged engine", "awwwww common rail head", "awwwww axle ratio so low", "awwwwww no hard top", "awwwwww HT tyres", "awwwwww exhaust hanging so low", "awwwww plastic dashboard", "awwwwww awwwww awwwwwwwww..."

As I mentioned in my previous post, Maruti aint doing nothing for charity. They won't touch the Gypsy unless they see a cash cow. So the basic reason for not updating the Gypsy at this point in its product life cycle remains the tremendous cash outlay required to alter the Gypsy to make it more user friendly (R&D, CMVR, Homologation) vs. return on investment, which as per my understanding of finance, does not add up at all.

But, I have to say, for such an old design, it still looks so impossibly cool, no?
:lol!: That's true, offroad-enthusiasts never leave a car as stock...the best car for them is one that is easy to modify and upgrade to one's tastes, kind of like the MM540 or even the Gypsy!

That's the problem with Maruti, they've just become complacent because there is no profit incentive. They should consider how much cash and effort other manufacturers put into keeping their heritage-type models going, even when there is no profit in it! Considering the Merc G-Class, LR Defender, Jeep Wrangler.

Yep, it does!
 
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Considering the Merc G-Class, LR Defender, Jeep Wrangler.

Yep, it does!
Slightly OT!
Sir all 3 are doing good for its manufacturers actually - G Class has been in production for over 33 years and in my books one of the best offroaders that ever existed, its become cult and obviously is too pricey, plenty of limited editions come and get sold out immediately, may be its never positioned as a mass market thing and merc is happy with that - atleast 2 dozen military governments worldwide use it. Its the best thing since sliced bread.

Defender is doing ok, not as much as your Evoque or Freelander, but its more a purist thing - though buyers today prefer the more luxurious LRs.

Wrangler's doing record sales last several years - they are on a roll actually! I drove the compact one recently, didnt like it as much though - hopefully someday need to do a trail in a rubicon!

Coming back to Gypsy - somehow i never fancy a petrol SUV, Maruti just didnt see the compact SUV market coming, they missed the bus here.
 
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Slightly OT!
Sir all 3 are doing good for its manufacturers actually - G Class has been in production for over 33 years and in my books one of the best offroaders that ever existed, its become cult and obviously is too pricey, plenty of limited editions come and get sold out immediately, may be its never positioned as a mass market thing and merc is happy with that - atleast 2 dozen military governments worldwide use it. Its the best thing since sliced bread.

Defender is doing ok, not as much as your Evoque or Freelander, but its more a purist thing - though buyers today prefer the more luxurious LRs.

Wrangler's doing record sales last several years - they are on a roll actually! I drove the compact one recently, didnt like it as much though - hopefully someday need to do a trail in a rubicon!

Coming back to Gypsy - somehow i never fancy a petrol SUV, Maruti just didnt see the compact SUV market coming, they missed the bus here.
True, there are many G-Classes in service today, but they're currently not selling very strong to private customers, especially with the fuel prices rising in most of the world. Have you seen the 6-wheeled G-Wagon 6x6 the Australian army use?

LR isn't selling many defenders either, because people who want a defender rarely go for a new one, when they go for a new LR they go for something with a bit more...bling [;)]

AFAIK they aren't making much money on the Wrangler, I have no idea why though, I'm going to try and find more information on that one. Personally not a fan of the Wrangler though.

I think petrol SUV's are ideal! Although a Diesel may have the low-end torque which can be quite helpful, they don't seem to provide sufficient output over the rev range, which is something I find quite necessary. Although diesel SUV's are improving fast.

I think Maruti might be able to play to it's brand image and catch up with the market if they do it right!
 
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The Maruti Suzuki Gypsy is a bare-bones car, but this car is also good option for off-road. This is Mostly buying by the Army and police forces,
 
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As per wikipedia ,our Gypsy have so many synonyms .
They are,
Chevrolet Samurai
Holden Drover
Santana Samurai
Suzuki Caribbean
Suzuki Katana
Suzuki Potohar
Suzuki SJ410/413
Suzuki Samurai
Suzuki Santana
Suzuki Sierra
This was for production from 1981–1998. Now only Maruti Gypsy remains in production. Basically this car started as an alternate to jeep from Suzuki in 1968.Currently Jimney,which is in production , was supposed to replace the Gypsy long back .Maruti is not interested in this ,at the same time ,mini SUV concepts like duster caught the peoples imagination. Maruti lost out to the competition just because of complacency. Now Army is also going to ditch the Gypsy for more powerful and comfortable vehicles.
 
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