[TusharK]

Earlier this week, there were rumours suggesting that Jeep had discontinued the Compass petrol variants. The news has since been confirmed.



Jeep India has issued an official statement following the discontinuation of the petrol variants of the Compass.

Official statement:

The Premium SUV segment continues to enjoy a strong demand for diesel powertrain. Jeep India will continue to invest and develop its efficient state-of-the-art 2.0 L MultiJet Turbo Diesel powertrains offering superior torque, lower emissions and an impressive fuel efficiency. Jeep India is committed to the market and has significant product plans for the future. We will continue to explore all possible engine and fuel options in line with the evolving market preferences to offer what is most relevant to our consumers.

The Jeep Compass 1.4-litre turbo-petrol variants have been shelved. Going forward, the SUV will only be available with the 2.0-litre diesel engine. Jeep will continue to invest and develop this powertrain further, however, there's no word on whether the petrol variants will return to the Compass line-up.

Link to Team-BHP News

[shobhit.shri]

I am confused, why does Maruti/Skoda think that future is only petrol but Jeep thinks it's only in diesel?

Also, the cheapest Compass in Bangalore now will start at 28L on road. The times we live in!

[lordrayden]

Originally Posted by shobhit.shri

I am confused, why does Maruti/Skoda think that future is only petrol but Jeep thinks it's only in diesel?

I seriously doubt they think the "future is diesel". This is mostly a financial decision; Price of upgrading the 1.4 turbo-petrol engine to BS6.2 plus other associated costs VS their projected profits from the Jeep Compass petrol for the next how-many-ever years.

[GTO]

Trust Jeep to make such statements. The market is moving to petrols in a big way, including for monocoque crossovers (not body-on-frame ones). But Jeep clearly didn't get the funds to make the engine BS6 RDE compliant and has chosen to retire it.

The 2.0L diesel is obviously the superior motor. But we cannot ignore the market for petrols from Delhi-NCR, those with low running and many with a general aversion to diesels.

This is the time to offer MORE powertrain options & expand the line-up, like electrics or hybrids. Jeep is living on its own planet. Expect Jeep's sales to shrink even further - the company just lost 50% of Compass sales to competitors.

[Shreyans_Jain]

The 1.4 petrol engine was always due for retirement with BS6.2 norms. In the global market, it has been replaced by a new 1.3 turbo petrol and a 2.0 turbo petrol, depending on where the car in selling.

[Mickey1986]

Wondering if Jeep really want to continue in Indian Market at all. Heard they have also discontinued trailhawk edition. Not that it was a hot selling but there were some who really appreciated it..

[Samba]

Had my doubts when Jeep launched the Meridian a year back without any petrol engine~ !

Hope they bring the new 1.3L turbo petrol soon. Petrol engine option is a must to survive in India.

Just checked the Jeep website, they have not yet taken down the petrol models.

[abhi_tjet]

Trust Jeep/FCA/Stellantis to make such blunders. However, the petrol option in Compass was never a scorcher or even a lively enough engine. It was quite anti climax to the image which is portrayed by default when one sees a Compass. Diesel engine is superior in all aspects.

I was disappointed after the test drive of Compass petrol and was such a heart burn moment. It felt straight downgrade purely in terms of engine performance as compared to my Tjet.

From sales perspective, I doubt if petrol Compass sales were enough to warrant making it 6.2 compliant/introduce new engine.

On the other side, they hardly have a couple of mainstream products. I suppose they should come with more engine/gearbox options going with image of Jeep(read: fun to drive and exciting)

[sarathlal]

What could be a logical industrial take on the attitude (Or rather, business strategies) of major automakers (Be it Jeep, Toyota, Honda et al) towards our Indian market?

Indian market is emerging, have huge buying power, is yearning for performance and feature rich products, but still the market is given a 3rd or 4th degree treatment (Purely based on subjective take on their corresponding offerings in neighbouring markets)

I can understand a TV salesman telling that an unknown TV is better than Sony if we visit his/her showroom that has low stock of the Sony's. But similar kind of statement from Jeep, is little hard to digest.

[ashis89]

I guess it all boils down to volumes. Fiat sells the 2.0 MJD to Tata and MG. Together that engine sells ~5000 units probably even if Jeep's share is less than 10% of it. End of the day, even if their own sales are low, investment in the 2.0 diesel will yield better return than the 1.4 petrol. So when time came for further investments, it had to go.

[jaysonline]

This gives the rationale behind the decision. It seems Jeep was just showing presence here as it was exporting to RHD countries as well. Now it's not the case. Sales numbers were anyway not impressive nor they had any such ambition:

https://www.autocarindia.com/car-new...n-sight-428212

From the article:
"Secondly, prior to the arrival of the Compass facelift, India was the sole export base for right-hand drive versions of the SUV. However, post the facelift, Jeep also started producing RHD versions of the Compass in Italy at the brand’s Melfi plant, and that too became an export base. India thus lost a significant share of export volumes and that meant even lower economies of scale for the 1.3-litre engine to be localised and manufactured here."

[SKC-auto]

Can Jeep include eC3 (EV) sales when calculating CAFE norms? If the answer is yes, it would be logical for them to sell as many diesel vehicles as possible while also selling eC3 to both PV and CV buyers.

[ghost-was-here]

This is sad news for me as a Jeep compass petrol owner. I hope to keep the car for 8-9 years more and really hope that spares are available through-out (the car's life).

Though the petrol did not get same love as the diesel on this forum, I (upgraded from an amaze) love the pickup and the silent + pliant ride it offers.

[motorworks]

Bought the Compass just 7-8 months ago. Although most reviews dont speak favourably of the 1.4 petrol, I found it to be quite decent during my test drives. Even the DCT didnt seem all that bad. I could be wrong since i may not have driven more than 5kms in total. Since I needed an automatic, i was not averse to this 1.4 Turbo petrol DCT combination. However the fuel efficiency figures were unviable for someone like me who spends 2.5 hours every day in peak Bangalore traffic. This Turbo petrol unit is supposedly very sensitive to such conditions and I could see just 5-6kmpl during my test drive. I dropped the idea and stretched myself to get the Diesel AT which comes with 4x4 by default.

Post the facelift, i have seen a lot more urban buyers opting for the Compass due to the Petrol AT, and also due to the fact that the diesel AT is nearly 4L higher than the petrol counterpart. But the sales numbers are already low, plus the meridian did not get this petrol unit and the diesel engine gets bought by Tata and MG. Economies of scale doesn’t make sense here for the petrol engine at all.

And at current volumes it doesn’t make sense for Jeep to bring in the newer 1.3 turbo petrol.

[kronos596]

Originally Posted by ashis89

I guess it all boils down to volumes. Fiat sells the 2.0 MJD to Tata and MG. Together that engine sells ~5000 units probably even if Jeep's share is less than 10% of it. End of the day, even if their own sales are low, investment in the 2.0 diesel will yield better return than the 1.4 petrol. So when time came for further investments, it had to go.

Out of Tata and MG, Tata is the more significant buyer of the 2.0 MJD engines, with an initial deal of 72k engines per year with FCA (Link (2021 Tata Safari Review)). With the launch of Petrol Harrier & Safari just around the corner, It'll be interesting to see how much 2.0 MJD Tata will buy once the 1.5 Turbo(making 170Bhp, 280Nm) is in the market. The Petrol engine is also crucial for the Harrier twins to get 5-star GNCAP ratings.

MG doesn't need to worry about Diesel which contributes just 36% of sales. They already have a 2.0L Strong Hybrid (Link (MG Hector gets a 2.0L Hybrid powertrain in Indonesia)) abroad which they can use to replace the diesel once the time comes.

All in all with Tata focused on EVs, MG disinterested in Diesel AT, and the upcoming Diesel restrictions, the 2.0 MJD and FCA have a bumpy road ahead.