The iconic American SUV automobile manufacturer, Jeep, had officially entered the Indian auto segment with three of its legendary off-roader, the Jeep Wrangler, Jeep Cherokee and Jeep Grand Cherokee. Now, it is the newly designed Jeep Compass mid-size SUV, which will follow the footstep of its sibling here in the country. Going by the reports, the automaker is thinking of introducing this 5-seater beast by the middle of 2017.
Despite sharing the platform with Renegade (Small Wide 4x4 platform), the Compass, however, comes with a longer wheelbase in order to provide greater space inside the cabin. As we wrote earlier, it is basically debut to replace the firms ageing models - the older Compass and Patriot and will be slotted between the Grand Cherokee and the Renegade. Moreover, it is also reported that the India-bound unit will be manufactured at the company’s local facility - Tata-FCV JV manufacturing plant, which is in Ranjangaon.
On the designing front, the new Compass is quite identical to the Grand Cherokee sibling or its small brother Grand Cherokee, however, the LED headlights and taillamps are exclusive to the Jeep range. Besides, features like a signature grill, fog lamps, and similar bumper to the Cherokee resembles the other off-road SUVs. Furthermore, it will run on the 17-inch alloy wheels. Dimensionally, it measures 4394 mm in length, 1647 mm in height and 1847 mm in width that is very close to measurement we had seen for the recently launched Hyundai Tucson in the country.
Putting the interior details on the ground, it will come up with an 8.4 inch UConnect touchscreen system, instrument cluster with TFT display, keyless entry along with start and stop button facility, Beats audio system with 9-speaker and subwoofer, etc. The centre console houses the functional features such as the terrain selection dials, 12V sockets, gear-shift selection, engine stop-start buttons, volume and climate control knobs. Besides the automaker claims that the Compass mid-size SUV will garner more than 70 available active and passive safety as well as security features, across international markets. The base variant of the SUV will sport a 5-inch touchscreen infotainment system, dual airbags, ABS with ESC, electronic parking brake and reverse camera with a sensor.
Globally, the all-new Jeep compass will be offered in five engine options including three petrol and two diesel guise options. When it comes to the India bound model, it will house one petrol and one diesel motor along with both manual and automatic gearbox options. It comprises, a 2.0-litre MultiJet diesel engine, sourced from Fiat and a 1.4-litre Multiair petrol unit. The former is good for propelling the unit with an output of 165 bhp of power and 360 Nm of torque, while the latter is tuned to run the unit with a 140 bhp of power with 230 Nm of torque.
As the model is going to be designed here in the country, it would be sold at an affordable price or similar as of the other global market units. If all the reports come out to be true then it will lie between the price bucket of INR 20 Lakhs to INR 30 Lakhs (Ex-showroom).
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