[ajmat]

Was driving down Richmond Road and spotted these in thick traffic. Pics off my dash cam

Jeep Wrangler CRD
Jeep Wrangler unlimited
Jeep Grand Cherokee

[Turbanator]

If Abrath 595 launch prices are taken as reference we are looking at around Rs 30 -35 lac pricing for Jeep Wrangler as well , some calculations based on Import data

Abrath 595 Assessable Value for last Year Import with Air Freight - 16,70 lac
Abrath 595 Assessable Value for CBU last month via Sea - 9,80 Lac

Launch price for Abrath 595 - 30 Lac

Jeep Wrangler Assessable Value for Import with Air Freight - 16,70 Lac
Jeep Wrangler Assessable Value for CBU in future via Sea - not known

Launch price for Jeep Wrangler - approximately - Rs 30-35 Lac

Note :: Air Freight is added to costs of goods at time of Import to calculate duties and given the weight it will be substantial portion so there is major difference in Assessable values of Cars arranged by Air vs Sea plus manufacturers might have got better cost based pricing from their overseas plants in case of bulk Sea orders than regular 1-2 orders for homoglomotion

[RavenAvi]

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to roll out the Jeep brand in India next year through 5 exclusive dealerships (initially).

The auto major will be investing $280 million in it's joint manufacturing unit with Tata Motors to support the production of the Jeep models.

Elaborating on the launch plan, FCA APAC President and Managing Director Kevin Flynn said the Jeep brand would be showcased in the Auto Expo next year besides establishing dealerships in five major cities.

Both Grand Cherokee and Wrangler brands would be launched together next year and would come as completely built units.

"Local manufacturing of C-SUV (another product under the Jeep portfolio) will commence from our Ranjangaon plant in 2017. By that time we expect our network to be around 20-25 dealerships strong," Flynn said.

When asked about the plans to locally assemble both Grand Cherokee and Wrangler brands, Flynn said: "It is under evaluation. I would like see that happen."

Ranjangaon (Maharashtra) will be the fourth plant outside the US for volume production of Jeep vehicles.

ET Auto

[Latheesh]

Next year is too late for Cherokee. People are going to call its design as copy of Mahindra TUV300, and ask why they should pay such huge amount for a vehicle which looks like TUV.

[AJITHAAA]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

Next year is too late for Cherokee. People are going to call its design as copy of Mahindra TUV300, and ask why they should pay such huge amount for a vehicle which looks like TUV.

I don't think that's a comparison worth making, At least design and technology wise. The TUV with its sub 4m box will fit inside the cab of the cherokee.

[srinath34]

Spotted this Grand Cherokee today near Ranjangaon. Looked beefy and had good presence.

[RavenAvi]

Fiat will be showcasing it's Jeep range at the 2016 Auto Expo and will also be launching the beefy SUV offerings at the same time, according to Kevin Flynn, CEO, Fiat India.

The iconic American SUV maker is expected to showcase the latest iterations of the Cherokee, Wrangler as well as the Renegade. We believe that the first two will be their main focus while the latter is expected to hit the Indian roads in 2017.

Carwale

[avishar]

Holy moly, look at what just came into the country! I wonder if this is a private import.

[Jeevith]

Not sure what to make of this. I would interpret the words "for the production and supply of Jeep vehicles and 2L engines in India" with a pinch of salt.

http://barandbench.com/induslaw-azb-...from-citibank/

[mathuranuj]

Cherokee and Wrangler both have a tremendous road presence and are potential market breakers. However, FIAT needs to be careful in pricing, marketing and sales. I hope they do not sell these from existing Fiat showrooms and do not use Fiat workshops for Jeep. Otherwise, we are looking at another disaster.

[SuperFlyBoy]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

Next year is too late for Cherokee.

I agree - spoke to the Chrysler top guys and they said first registrations only by April 2016. Too late - as of now I am going ahead with a Fortuner, even though it's pathetic in terms of safety and performance as compared to the Jeep GC, and in safety as compared to the Safari Storme.

Originally Posted by avishar

Holy moly, look at what just came into the country! I wonder if this is a private import.

Yes, they also mentioned that they were going to showcase this at the Auto Expo - I asked them why they are even bothering - who's going to buy one? Not very many here - way *too* expensive!

Originally Posted by mathuranuj

Cherokee and Wrangler both have a tremendous road presence and are potential market breakers. However, FIAT needs to be careful in pricing, marketing and sales. I hope they do not sell these from existing Fiat showrooms and do not use Fiat workshops for Jeep. Otherwise, we are looking at another disaster.

Right - I think that not very many people value Jeep as a luxury marque, especially not here in India where they haven't been selling any vehicles, ever?? (Maybe only during WWII when they were used by the (US?) armed forces at that time?)

Most are going for Audi Q3s, Q5s, Q7s and BMWs/Volvos/Mercedes - where one can boast of having "arrived"!

[venom_op]

Originally Posted by srinath34

Spotted this Grand Cherokee today near Ranjangaon. Looked beefy and had good presence.

If i'm not mistaken, that's the old gen GC. The new one is even better looking! I don't know if we can still call it new since i think it's been on sale in the US since 2012, i guess.

[SuperFlyBoy]

Originally Posted by venom_op

If i'm not mistaken, that's the old gen GC. The new one is even better looking! I don't know if we can still call it new since i think it's been on sale in the US since 2012, i guess.

Are there any distinguishing features you have noted?

Looking at the rear tail light clusters, I would say that this is a very recent model. (Larger brake lights) It's most definitely not a 2015 model, but is probably a 2013.5 or a 2014 model year. (Also based on my possible spottings of it in Mumbai over the past year)

I could comment on the license plate (as far as I could make out from the photograph), but wouldn't want to invade anyone's privacy!

Originally Posted by srinath34

Spotted this Grand Cherokee today near Ranjangaon. Looked beefy and had good presence.

[huracan.lp580]

Having sold my BMW 550i xdrive earlier this year, I have been using rental cars for the past few months. I’m currently driving a 2015 Jeep Cherokee. With the Jeep brand coming to India soon, I thought it would be a good idea to do a quick review with my impressions. Please note that this is the AWD V6 in Latitude Trim. Due to the winter season in America I haven’t been able to take pictures during daylight earlier today. I will try and post some pictures tomorrow. Also this the first time I am writing a review, so please bear with me

Design and exterior styling:
This is unmistakably a product from Jeep, the front grill gives that away at first glance. I am not a fan of the futuristic front headlamps, but it distinguishes this car from other models in Jeep’s current lineup. It makes the car look like it came straight out of the sets of Jurassic Park! The rear has a more clean design and nothing to complain about really. Compared to the Mazda CX-5 or the Honda CR-V, this car is not exactly better looking, but definitely has a more macho look and appears to be more focused for off-road use. While I prefer the more conventional looks of other cheaper Jeeps, like the Jeep Compass, this model is slightly larger, which adds to its road presence. Put it next to a Grand Cherokee though, and instantly it looks much smaller and more like a city cruising cross-over, than a proper SUV. I prefer the looks of the German rivals over this car.

Interior design:
The build quality is solid and almost feels like a German car. The futuristic design language is carried over inside and the layout appeared a little funky initially, but it grew on me pretty quickly. The layout is very similar to the CR-V but the gear level sits on the transmission tunnel, like most other cars. With this being the AWD model, it also comes with a terrain response system located next to the gear lever. The materials used inside the Jeep are superior and soft to touch, not hard plastics. They aren’t on par with the materials used in a BMW or Mercedes, but I found it way better compared to Hondas or Mazdas. The infotainment system is pretty much lifted off from the Chrysler family. I personally am not a big fan of this system and I think a better resolution and touch-response would make it more appealing and user friendly. The low resolution screen made it a little challenging to use the rear view camera in low light conditions. I believe they are upgrading this entire system soon with a higher resolution and larger screen, along with built in WiFi! The stereo system is okay and nothing really to write about. USB and aux inputs available and located in front of the gear knob. The steering and instrument cluster is also lifted off from Chrysler and comes with wheel controls for the infotainment and cruise control. No paddle shifters here. The instrument cluster comes with a digital screen which allows the driver to view various info such as speed, fuel economy etc. The front seats were comfortable and I didn’t have any issues during long stretches (3 hours or so). Visibility is pretty good as you sit high off the ground, and headroom is pretty decent as well. There are plenty of storage compartments inside, including under the armrest and the center of the dash. The front passenger seat folds to reveal another compartment as well! Neat solution for storing valuables you might not want others to see. I didn’t spend too much time in the rear seats, but they appear to be reasonably comfortable and also have the option to recline. The boot size is pretty good, very similar to the Q5 and X3. The rear seats can be folded down, to further increase boot size. Also there is no option for a third row, so this car strictly seats 5 at most. My only real complaint was lack of leather seats, but they are available depending on which trim you choose. Also there was significant road and wind noise in the cabin while cruising at freeway speeds (100-120kmph).

Safety:
The car is equipped with 6 airbags, providing full protection for the front occupants and side airbags at the rear. The car also comes with traction control, electronic stability control, brake assist and ABS.


Performance:
This car came with the 3.2L V6 engine, pumping out 270hp and 240lb-ft. This engine seems pretty refined and is quite for the most part. The engine can only be heard on full throttle, and I didn’t find anything extraordinary about it. Power was more than sufficient to move this car around town, with a 0-100kmph in the sub 8 second range. This car weighs nearly 1800kg, which is quite a bit less compared to an X3 or Q5, but I still felt like the car is as heavy if not a bit more than the others. The car comes with a 9 speed automatic transmission and gearshifts are seamless in automatic mode and I never bothered switching to manual. The steering is meaty and tries to imitate BMW, but unfortunately feedback of any sort is lacking. It is quite precise but the car tends to understeer quite a bit when pushed hard, so it is definitely not a good choice for spirited driving. The ride is a little on the firm side at low speeds but improves with speed. Under normal driving conditions, this car is primarily FWD, with power being sent to the rear when required. This can be changed using the terrain response system, which splits torque to the front and back as required. The 4 available settings are Automatic, Snow, Sport and Sand/Mud. Though I used the car in automatic for most of the time, I did get a chance to try the Snow setting in real snow. Although the car was able to figure out what to do in the Automatic setting, I constantly noticed the traction control cutting power. The snow mode improved things a lot and I didn’t have the traction control nagging all the time. I am pretty confident that this will also be the case in the sand/mud setting. I used that setting and tried it on muddy grass, and it was working well with the in built systems to find traction. I can only imagine that it would be better on actual sand/mud. The car also has pretty good ground clearance, and can take steep approach and departure angles. So it looks like off-roading is what this car is built for. The sport setting turns off traction control altogether, which I found a bit strange, so I wasn’t confident to push the car. The brakes performed pretty well and the pedal was calibrated quite nicely. I tested the brake assist feature on an empty stretch of road and was quite impressed at the maximum stopping power which did not unsettle the car even a bit.

Fuel economy:
Jeep claims 21mpg(9km/litre) in the city and 29mpg(12km/litre) on the freeways. But realistically speaking, I managed about 15mpg(6km/litre) in the city and 20mpg(8.5km/litre) on the freeway. This was a surprise given the cars relatively low weight, 9 speed gearbox and very careful driving on my part. Future models will be equipped with engine start/stop technology, which might improve those figures a little.

Pros:
Build quality
Good ground clearance and steep approach/departure angles
Terrain response system
Smooth 9-speed transmission
Precise steering
Refined engine

Cons:
Some people might not like the looks
Firm ride at low speeds
Lack of third row of seats
Low-resolution infotainment screen
Thirsty!

To sum it up in a sentence, I would describe this Jeep as a cross-over which has potential for serious talent off-road.

[SuperFlyBoy]

huracan.lp580, was your review for the Grand Cherokee or the Cherokee?

Understand that the GC is primarily rear-wheel drive, if I am not mistaken.