[bnzjon]

Team-BHP's Jeep Grand Cherokee review is live. Please continue the discussion in the new thread.

Fiat to bring JEEP Grand Cherokee
Courtesy : The Economic Times
Fiat to expand its presence in India through Chrysler's Jeep; To launch Alfa Romeo & Maserati - The Economic Times

MUMBAI: Italian carmaker Fiat has plans to add heft to its diminutive presence in the Indian market by leaning on Chrysler, the US automaker in which it acquired a majority stake three years ago, as well as by launching a few of its own premium brands such as Alfa Romeo and Maserati.

A team of senior officials from Chrysler recently visited India to conduct product clinics for the Jeep Grand Cherokee, an SUV in a price segment similar to that of Toyota's Fortuner, Ssangyong's Rexton and Chevrolet's Captiva.

Mods : there exist a thread on JEEP grand Cherokee which is closed. You may merge this with the old one.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ia-soon-2.html

[Samurai]

A CKD Jeep Wrangler in India... now that's a dream come true. But the price might burst the dream anyway.

[Aroy]

I hope Fiat improves its A.S.S. and service centres, else all is lost.

Lets see if they also bring the short wheel base Jeeps at a lower price point, so that there is at least some competition to the Thar.

[manasm]

The new Grand Cherokee is an awesome beast!

If they ever bring the Wrangler, it will be bye bye Thar at whatever price.

I know 2 people who have imported Wranglers into India...cost them about 21 lakhs. They say the price came to about 9lakhs in the UK and then import costs (shipping etc) and duties pushed it to 21L.

In a year or two, I might just be tempted to shell out that kind of money if the Wrangler comes in as a CKD in India.

[dr.abhijeet]

I really hope they bring the SRT version.
Drove the V6 as a rental, sluggish as compared to JAPs, I did not like the interior very much typical new american, too generic for my taste, and I hate that green dot matrix display on the radio/AC/MFD.
Space was okay for me but my brother commented that the space is not as much as it seems from outside .
Hope they price it right in India.

[theMAG]

Reading between the lines, the bit about launching these new models "outside the Tata JV" must mean one of 2 things:

1. Independant Fiat-owned service centers are on the anvil shortly to cater to these vehicles, much before 2013, or

2. These vehicles will be launched after 2013, when the JV with Tata is expected to close.

In either case, it is apparent that with these brands, Fiat is looking at the Rs 20 lakh+ segments. Service quality will be a key factor in ownership experience at those segments.

[Speed Pujari]

This is some news. I had a slight thought of wrangler as my next vehicle. I was doing some math for next 5 years like how much it would take to get it imported...
If they launch the wrangler is say after 5 years then Fiat has to count me. My fiat can be replaced only by a fiat.

[noopster]

Jeep Cherokee at the same cost as a Toyota Fortuner? that will stir up the market!

I always loved the looks of the Cherokee and it's great news that it's finally coming to Indian shores. But somehow I doubt it will be less than 30 lac when it launches.

[Sahil]

This brand has great potential in our market. The cars are solid and the new-gen ones are brilliant- modern design touches and loaded with tech. In terms of utility too there are few SUV's that can beat this.

I am glad the company is aiming at the early 20 lakh bracket to take on the Captiva and Fortuner. A product like this could shake up that segment big time !

The only grey area is the timeline. They are already late, with the CEO not being ready to comment on it gives a feeling that plans are in initial stages and by the time CKD production kicks off it might be too late. Wake up !!

[Relativity]

Originally Posted by theMAG

Reading between the lines, the bit about launching these new models "outside the Tata JV" must mean one of 2 things:

1. Independant Fiat-owned service centers are on the anvil shortly to cater to these vehicles, much before 2013, or

2. These vehicles will be launched after 2013, when the JV with Tata is expected to close.

In either case, it is apparent that with these brands, Fiat is looking at the Rs 20 lakh+ segments. Service quality will be a key factor in ownership experience at those segments.

Slightly OT, but if the JV ends in 2012; what will happen to the A.S.S. for the current Fiat cars as they don't have any plans to go solo. the Fiat Cafe is just a showroom with bells and whistles, right?

[cs_rajesh]

I understand from conversations with my brother who lives in the US that the Jeep brand has considerably lost its hold with quality of its cars having come down considerably. My recent visit to the bay area and Atlanta, I found more Ford F-150s, Honda CRV, Acura MDX owned and driven than Jeeps.

[rameshnanda]

Here are few pictures of the Jeep. Looks good but not awesome in my opinion. Eager to know about the handling of this vehicle.

[suhaas307]

This is great news for off-road enthusiasts.

Jeep is probably the most sought-after name in the business, and their arrival in India will be a dream come true.

The brand is hugely iconic. So much so that even Mahindra had taken after them, borrowing design cues from their SUVs and Jeeps.

Having said that, Fiat will have to think out of the box for this one. This will be outside the 50:50 joint venture that Fiat and Tata are a part of. It has to be, since Tata's Land Rover brand would be in direct competition with Fiat's Chrysler-Jeep brand.

Is it true that the joint-venture between Tata and Fiat is expected to dissolve in 2013?

And is Chrysler a brand that makes RHD cars for other markets? I'm not sure.

If Fiat wants this brand to sell, they will have to ensure that they assemble the products here. It would open up several opportunities for the brand, and will give them the ability to export the RHD cars to other RHD markets.

The American brand isn't well known for their fit and finish anyway. They might be strong and well built, but the quality of some parts are left to be desired, I'm told. But if Renault can deliver well made and well-finished products, I'm sure Chrysler can as well.

Really looking forward to this.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

Jeep is probably the most sought-after name in the business, and their arrival in India will be a dream come true.

It will redefine the word Jeep as it is known in India. Lots of people are going to scratch their head as to how a modern SUV has JEEP written on it.

Originally Posted by suhaas307

The American brand isn't well known for their fit and finish anyway. They might be strong and well built, but the quality of some parts are left to be desired, I'm told.

It is basically FUD. American brands are usually more feature rich and comfortable than their plain jane Japanese counter-parts. They are only notch below in reliability compares to Japanese. I have previously owned Mercury Sable and Chevy Malibu. And my wife preferred the Malibu over the Acura 3.2TL that followed it.

[cruiser@0523]

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