The Jeep Compass has finally made its India debut at the company's Ranjangaon facility with much fanfare. The midsize SUV's launch has been a long awaited one, ever since it was first revealed in Brazil late last year. Moreover, the Compass might just be the make or break model for Jeep India as the SUV will not only cater to the domestic market but will also be exported overseas.
With the launch scheduled in the third quarter of 2017, we expect the Jeep Compass to carry a starting price of around Rs. 18 lakh (ex-showroom) for the base manual variant. Jeep will be offering the Compass in at least four variants spread across two engine options with manual and automatic transmissions. The range-topping variant is likely to touch around Rs. 22 lakh (ex-showroom) for the diesel automatic with 4WD. We also expect Jeep to introduce the Trail-Hawk variant of the Compass later in the timeline as well. A spruced up derivative of the Compass, the expect the Trail-Hawk to be priced around Rs. 25-26 lakh (ex-showroom) when it goes on sale.
The Jeep Compass gets around 65-70 per cent of local content
FCA's Ranjangaon facility is extremely important for Jeep India and the plant will act as a global export hub for the Right-Hand-Drive (RHD) Compass. The made-in-India SUV will be shipped to the likes of UK, Australia, New Zealand among others. The Jeep Compass, then, has a lot riding on it and a major chunk of its success will depend on the pricing.
Considering the Compass SUV is being built in India with 65-70 per cent localisation, Jeep has a good chance to keep prices competitive, attracting more buyers to the otherwise premium brand. Moreover, the model will be competing against some established offerings like the Hyundai Tucson, Honda CR-V and even the top-variants of the Mahindra XUV500. While the CR-V has a niche with its petrol power, both the Tucson and XUV have turned out to be popular sellers for their respective manufacturers with potent diesel engines.
In contrast, the Jeep Compass unveiled for India certainly looks promising and will come loaded with a host of features, in addition to the brand's off-roading capabilities. Engine options will include the 1.4 litre Tigershark petrol motor that will be imported in the country, while diesel power will come from the 2.0 litre oil burner will be locally manufactured. Both engines will come paired to a 6-speed manual and a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission.
The Jeep Compass will enter production in June 2017
The Jeep Compass is built on the brand's small-wide 4x4 architecture shared with the Renegade, while the design influence for the exterior and interior comes from the bigger Grand Cherokee. The iconic Jeep styling is present, but now gets a modern touch. The cabin also resembles the bigger Cherokee and will feature a host of creature comforts. While the complete feature list and cabin are yet to be revealed, Jeep has said that there will be over 50 safety and security systems in place. Till then, make sure to keep watching this space for all the news, updates and the review of the Jeep Compass.
