Jeep Working on Increasing India Footprint

The company has been expanding its India footprint rapidly and it currently has over 50 dealerships. A few of these are new, while most are FCA’s existing Fiat Dealers and the company has stated that the increase in outlets is mainly to cater to the increase in footfalls it’s expecting.

The Wrangler and Grand Cherokee are fully imported and therefore, come with a really high price, but the company’s latest model, the Compass, has attracted a large number of customers to the otherwise empty showrooms. The Compass is Jeep’s first ‘mass market’ product, and prices are expected to start from 17 lakh. The car comes fitted with two engines – a 162hp, 1.4-litre petrol and a 170hp, 2.0-litre diesel. You can choose from either a six-speed manual and a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic ’box, however, the diesel car only comes with a manual for now – a nine-speed automatic will make its way here in the future.

The SUV has around 4,000 bookings already, according to sources. Jeep has promised deliveries for the diesel version from early October onwards, while the petrol cars will be available slightly later. The diesel-auto model will most probably be here in January and the company will start deliveries around February.