[TusharK]

According to a media report, Jeep is gearing up to launch an updated version of the Compass next month, followed by the Meridian facelift in October.



Jeep plans to roll out regular updates of its products in India. The carmaker believes that, unlike European markets where updates are rolled out every 18-24 months, the highly competitive Indian market needs a product refresh every 6 months.

That being said, the Compass is expected to receive no more than minor cosmetic updates. Similarly, the Meridian will also feature subtle styling changes on the outside, while on the interior, the 3-row SUV could get new seat upholstery and additional features like a front and rear dashcam and an air purifier.

The Compass and Meridian will retain the same 2.0-litre diesel engine, which puts out 168 BHP and 350 Nm. It will be paired with either a 6-speed manual or a 9-speed automatic transmission.

Source: Autocar India

Link to Team-BHP News

[CEF_Beasts]

According to ACI’s August ‘24 Magazine;

Jeep India is planning to sell the facelifted Meridian as a 5 seater alongside the current 7 seater, to give it a lower price tag !

Although with the Compass already present as the 5 seater counterpart of the 7 seater Meridian, I wonder how will the pricing aspect be kept in check…

[sharmanova]

At the most, they'll add 3-4 features and raise the price by 2-3 lacs.

My humble request to Jeep is to launch the Compass and the Meridian with a Petrol engine. Compass Petrol:diesel sales ratio used to be around 40:60. So atleast introduce a 2.0L Turbo Petrol engine by which you guys can increase your sales by atleast 30-40%.

[arjab]

Looks like we have another re-run of VW group's facelift strategy with the Jeep siblings, like what VW did with the Polo & Vento to manage their lifecycle.

The Compass M566 RHD platform for India is almost a decade old, having seen the light of day, internationally in 2016 and in India in 2017. At an asking price of INR2.5 million plus the Compass, which is not that spacious as its competitors, just cannot cut it any more in the mid - SUV segment in the face of newer, fresher competition.

Apart from incremental re-freshes can Jeep do anything else to revive the future of this very well engineered car? Well, they can re-calibrate their gasoline engine and relaunch a petrol variant once again. A large chunk of loyal Delhi-NCR Jeep buyers would be keen to have a petrol option.

Jeep can also look at the hybrid option. In the international lineup the Compass has a 1.3 litre PHEV variant which is efficient and powerful. Jeep can serioously consider making a business case out of it w.r.t. domestic sales as well as exports of a PHEV model from India.
The Fiat 2.0 litre diesel powered Compass oil burner feels quite archaic compared to the recent crop of diesels as featured in the latest Mahindra's. While the Mahindra Diesel's feel refined, smooth with superior NVH across the revv range in their vehicles, the Fiat 2.0 litre diesel powered Compass feel noisy, gravelly and laggy (below 2000 rpm).

As per various media reports, it looks like Jeep will take Stellantis's CMP platform and launch a newer, cheaper, smaller model in India some time in 2025-2026. But then again that will be a single new model. If Jeep wants to survive in India and have customer mindshare they need to offer multiple models at different price points. Once upon a time there was a serious talk of launching the Renegade in India which could have proved to be good competition to the existing 4.3 metre SUV models in our country but that plan was scrapped.

Jeep is a fantastic brand name and has an enviable brand equity in India. Even till today many people equate SUV like vehicles as "Jeep gaddi's". I have heard people talk about Mahindra's "Jeep",(Thar & now the Roxx), models and also the new Maruti "Jeep"(Jimny).
Pity, one find negligible such reference w.r.t. the parent car!