Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) India launched the Made-in-India Jeep® Compass at a starting price of Rs 14.95 lakh (ex-Delhi). The new Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) is now available for test drives and bookings at any of the 50 FCA and Jeep retail outlets across India. Deliveries of the vehicle will begin nationwide on August 6, 2017. The Company is set to expand its dealer network to 60 by the end of this calendar year. Packed with 50+ safety and security features, 30+ premium features and 20+ pioneering technologies, the Jeep® Compass is manufactured in FCA’s Joint Venture manufacturing facility in Ranjangaon, near Pune, and is made of 65% locally sourced components.
Commenting on the launch and price announcement, Kevin Flynn – President and Managing Director, FCA India said, “Due to the overwhelming public response to the Jeep® Compass, coupled with a significant number of pre-bookings and enquiries we decided to advance the price announcement so that potential customers can finalize their purchase decisions. We will start retails on August 6, 2017. Analyzing our pre-bookings data it has made sense for us to prioritize the deliveries of diesel manual transmission variants. We will deliver petrol automatic transmission variants closer to Diwali.”
Jeep Compass comes in 2 powertrain options – the 173 PS, 350 Nm, 2.0-litre Multi-Jet Turbo Diesel and the 162 PS, 250 Nm, 1.4-Multi-Air Turbo Petrol. The Diesel variant is being offered with the 6-speed manual transmission while the Petrol comes with both the 6-speed manual as well as the 7-speed DDCT (Dry Dual Clutch Technology) or Automatic Transmission.
The Jeep® Compass is one of the safest SUVs on Indian roads with over 50 safety and security features. The vehicle’s build consists of 27 hot stamped body parts, the highest in any passenger vehicle made in India. Hot stamping makes the body architecture strong while keeping it light in weight, which ensures plenty of fuel saving. The Jeep® Compass’ body has both front and rear crumple zones, the latter being incorporated for the first time in a locally-made product.
Flynn added, “The Jeep Compass is cleverly packaged to target customers who would have been contemplating buying an SUV or a crossover positioned across a wide range of price points. We developed a pricing strategy that could help us keep the product premium, yet attainable, with absolutely no compromise on quality of materials, comfort, safety and drivability, and make worthy impact in the highly aspirational and demanding SUV marketplace.”
