First Made-in-India Jeep vehicle unveiled

The Jeep Compass will be in full production in July and vehicles are expected to hit the market during the third quarter of the year

Automaker Fiat Chrysler’s India arm on Thursday rolled out the first locally manufactured Jeep Compass SUV from its Ranjangaon facility in Pune. With this, India has joined China, Mexico and Brazil as a manufacturing and export hub for the Jeep Compass. FCA has invested $280 million in the plant to support local production of Jeep. The company said the export of the vehicle would commence in the last quarter of calendar year 2017.

“The establishment of manufacturing operations and start of production of the Jeep Compass is an important milestone for our journey in India,” Alcala said.

“The Compass will be the first Made-in-India Jeep vehicle, and we are appreciative of the government’s efforts to make India a desirable manufacturing destination for multinational organisations like ours,” he said.

“With the start of production and an investment of $280 million in Jeep Compass localisation, we are reaffirming our commitment to Indian consumers and our long-term presence in the country,” Alcala added.

The Jeep Compass will be in full production in July and vehicles are expected to hit the market during the third quarter of the year in three variants — Sport, Longitude and Limited, the company said.

By 2017-end, the Jeep brand portfolio in India will consist of three new models — Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Grand Cherooke, besides Jeep Compass, it said.

FCA India Automobiles Pvt Ltd is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Italian-American auto maker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA). The Compass is the first model from the Jeep range to be produced in India.

Fiat Chrysler had launched the Jeep brand in India in August last year with its completely built units (CBUs). The Ranjangaom manufacturing facility, a 50:50 joint venture between FCA and Tata Motors, has a capacity to produce 1.6 lakh units and 3.5 lakh engines.