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Fiat Chrysler unveiled its new Jeep Compass SUV on Wednesday. The car will be manufactured in India and will be the company’s lowest priced offering for the Indian market.
Fiat Chrysler Automobile (FCA) is making a bid for a strong return in the Indian market. The SUV will be made indigenously and will be officially rolled out in India in July. The company has a small presence in the Indian market as of now. The production of the SUV is expected to begin in June.
According to reports, FCA has put investments to the tune of $300 million for the manufacture and export of the new automobile to markets like UK, Australia, Japan and South Africa.
The launch of Jeep Compass will be a chance for the company to extensively explore the jeep segment in the country.
The SUV will be offered in both diesel and petrol variants. The Jeep Compass is built on FCA’s small wide 4X4 architecture. The car is offered in 17 different power-train variants in the international markets. In the Indian offering, an automatic transmission option will be available along with an option for a 4X4 drivetrain for off-roading.
In design terms, the car sports a seven-slot grille. It also has a clamshell hood with a central bulge. Wide fenders accentuate the contour to give it a brawny look. It will be offered with two engine variants–a 1.4 litre petrol engine and 2.0 litre diesel engine. One can opt for a six-speed manual transmission or a dual dry-clutch seven-speed automatic transmission.
The car has options like electric park brake, capless fuel fill. It has over 50 safety features including electronic stability control, hill start assist, front airbags + 6 airbags (4X4), anti-lock braking system, EBD, PBA, HBFC, EBP, all disc brakes, aluminium front and rear crumple zone, electronic rollover mitigation, all speed traction control, anti-fog coating on windshield glass, cornering fog lamps etc. It offers frequency sensitive damping suspension as well.
The price hasn’t been announced yet officially, but it is expected to be in the ₹20-25 lakh bracket giving competition to cars like Hyundai Tucson, Nissan X-trail, Isuzu Mu-7, Honda CR-V 4th Generation etc in the over ₹20 lakh section or Hyundai Creta, Mahindra XUV500 and the Tata Hexa in the sub ₹20 lakh section.
The petrol variant will have a 4-cylinder turbocharged engine that will churn out 160 Bhp with 260 Nm of torque. The more sought after option will be the diesel variant, though. Its 4-cylinder turbocharged engine will churn out 170 Bhp with 350 Nm of torque which will make it the more ideal option for offroading. The car will come with Jeep’s terrain response system with drive modes like road, snow, sand and rock. The drive modes change distribution of power across the drivetrain for better handling and control according to driving situation and terrain.
The car will also have LED daytime running lamps as well as LED tail lamps which the maker says are a take on its Iron Man series. The black roof option is also expected to be on offer and would put the car on a more premium choice option list for buyers. Overall, the different combinations will provide the Indian buyers over 50 variants to choose from. Jeep Compass will make its way into the company’s Jeep India portfolio. Other cars featuring in the portfolio include the Wrangler whose base model starts at around ₹56 lakh along with the Grand Cherokee which starts at ₹ 93 lakh but can go up to ₹1.1 crore.
