The highly-anticipated Jeep Meridian has been launched in India at Rs. 29.90 lakh for the base Jeep Meridian Limited Manual Front Wheel Drive (FWD) variant and going all the way up to Rs. 36.95 lakh for the range-topping Jeep Meridian Limited (O) Automatic Four-Wheel-Drive (FWD) variant. Jeep India is offering the Meridian seven-seater SUV in six variants and it will be sold in our country as a company knocked down (CKD) unit. It is based on the same platform as the Jeep Compass and is essentially the extended three-row version of the mid-size SUV.
The Jeep Meridian is offered with a proper 4x4 system as optionalp in both variants.
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It goes without saying that the Jeep Meridian looks like the bigger and tad more butch than the compass, courtesy its dimensions. In fact, you get a Jeep Grand Cherokee sense in its profile and rear, while the front will certainly remind you of the Jeep Compass. That said, the front bumper has been slightly tweaked and sports a bigger air dam along with bolder chrome strip. You also LED headlights, sporty alloy wheels, a dual-tone exterior paint job and generous use of chrome in its detailing.
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The cabin of the Jeep Meridian is finished in warm brown and black and it is loaded to the gills with modern creature comforts.
The cabin is a straight lift from the Jeep Compass, but is finished in warm brown and black. The 10.1-inch touchscreen infotainment unit takes centre stage while it also gets a 10.2-inch digital instrument cluster. It is loaded to the brim with all modern age bells and whistles like the Uconnect connected car tech with an embedded SIM, a panoramic sunroof, wireless smartphone connectivity, wireless phone charging, powered front seats with ventilation and a powered tailgate among others. The safety suit includes six airbags, a 360-degree camera, tyre pressure monitoring, electronic stability control, traction control, rollover mitigation, hill start assist (HSA), hill descent control (HDC) and of course the mandatory antilock braking system (ABS) with electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD).
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The Jeep Meridian is offered only with a diesel engine in India.
The Jeep Meridian is being manufactured at the company's Ranjangaon facility near Pune and is offered only with the diesel engine for now. It sources power from the tried and tested 2.0-litre, four-cylinder MultiJet diesel engine belting out 168 bhp and 350 Nm of torque and is mated six-speed manual as standard on the FWD trims while the nine-speed torque converter automatic transmission is offered as standard on the Limited (O) trim and is available as an option on Limited variants. The Jeep Meridian rivals the likes of the Toyota Fortuner, MG Gloster and Skoda Kodiaq in our market.
