Jeep Compass India production to begin by June

Jeep India to officially roll out its first made in India model by June this year. The Jeep Compass will be positioned to aggressively take on the entry segment of the luxury SUV space.

Jeep India has officially showcased its first ever made in India model, the Compass ahead of official commencement of production of the all new model at the company’s Ranjangaon facility in Maharashtra. Jeep India’s mission is to produce the new Compass with high levels of localized content in the vehicle to make it a relatively affordable offering for India. For this purpose, Jeep has invested $ 280 million in the Compass project in India. Jeep will launch the Compass in India during the third quarter of the 2017 calendar year. The Jeep Compass will be offered in 50 different trim, powertrain and colour combinations when it is launched here. This would be mean we will get a fair number of trim and colour options to choose from.

Powertrain options in fact will include a four-cylinder petrol engine with over 160hp and 250Nm torque while the diesel model for India will be powered by a 2.0 litre, four cylinder, turbocharged engine developing over 170hp of power and 350Nm of peak torque. Gearbox options for Indian models will include a six-speed manual unit and a seven-speed dry dual clutch transmission.

“Local production schedule of the Jeep Compass is firmly on track and we are all set to begin production local of the Jeep brand’s global SUV by June this year. The Jeep Compass will come with several industry first features and will set benchmarks in the Indian SUV space,” said, Kevin Flynn, President and Managing Director, FCA.

“One of the important highlights of the Jeep Compass is that both its export as well as India models will be identical in terms of build and quality. We will export to international right hand drive markets from India,” added Flynn.

Of course, the highlight of the Compass will be Jeep’s legendary four-wheel drive off-road capabilities. Dubbed Jeep Active Drive, featuring Selec Terrain Traction Management System, the Jeep Compass will come with Driveline Disconnect technology which will allow the rear the drive shaft sending power to the rear wheels to be disconnected automatically to allow the SUV to drive like a front-wheel drive car normally to save fuel.

Other features in the Jeep Compass include Frequency Selective Damping (FSD) which incorporates a valve in the shock absorbers to offer different amount of damping according to varied road undulations. It will also come with hill start assist, stability control, anti-lock brakes, electric parking brake and more.

The Compass will not just be the most affordable Jeep model in India but will also target the entry-level luxury SUV space aggressively with its newest model.