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Originally Posted by motorworks The Renegade should be the flag bearer for Jeep in India. If they manage to localise it and produce it here, and they price it sensibly between 22-25 lakhs, it's a real winner. Anything more and it will end up in the Fortuner / Endeavour territory and no real chance there considering Indians love big SUVs. |
What "should be" and what "is" are, sadly, always two different things, especially when it concerns foreign vehicle manufacturers in India...
Also the speculation on the pricing at this current moment does not seem feasible given the high cost of the Dollar and of course, the fact that most of these vehicles will appear first in the CBU/SKD route, which will impact prices.
Even if you think about it, the Skoda Yeti, which at one time, in 2011-2012 was priced very fairly - in fact at the same price on road as it was in the UK/ Australia at the time, has now almost increased in price from those days, to hit the levels of 29-30 lacs on road today! In 5 years time, the vehicle price has literally risen by Rs 10 lacs!
Can we expect the Jeep Renegade to be priced then, at 22-25 lacs? Seems unlikely to me.
Also, sadly, we don't have any clue if the Jeep chaps / Fiat fellows will even offer this vehicle in India.
Maybe their strategy, like most other manufacturers is to keep the Jeep legend intact in terms of "aspiration", "desirability" and "premium-ness" by bringing only the Grand Cherokee and the Wrangler Unlimited at much higher prices, so that all the necessary hype is created at launch and then slowly, they may move down the food chain or value chain by bringing in the Renegade etc.
The saddest thing of all, is that Jeep is NOT a LUXE SUV Brand! It has always stood for plain, honest, immensely capable, less-frills off road motoring and toughness.
But as usual in this idiotic country with is completely skewed sense of priorities, what started off as a plain Jane "ute" becomes a "super luxury" vehicle which can only be purchased by those god-damned "super-loaded wannabe poseurs", rather than genuine people who love Jeeps and will enjoy them properly! Why is it that normal people here can never access a vehicle which is considered "normal" everywhere else in the world? I hate that!
(This last statement gives me a sense of deja vu, because I had written almost exactly the same words to the "Letter to the Editor" in Top Gear in 2005, talking about the idiotic pricing strategies for SUV's in India...)
However, lets wait and see.
Looks like for the "spend conscious" people, the only way out here in India, if one wants to own any of these "iconic" vehicles, is to wait for the second-hand market to warm up, with examples of the same.
(For example an used Mini Cooper can be bought for 22-32 lacs whereas a brand new example will cost a cool 42-50 lacs! One expects that there will be Jeep Wranglers Unlimited in the second-hand market in 2 years time from launch and while these may be priced at 50 lacs plus at launch, may probably be available at half that, in the used market 2 years down the line!)
Else of course, one can always go and sit in the Jeep showroom with one's tongue hanging out, like a dog begging for a biscuit - and then, tuck one's tail between one's legs, pop out and buy a Thar Crde 4x4 AC instead, at Rs 11 Lacs and keep shut after that!