Fiat announced that Jeep cars will be making their way to the Indian shores in 2013 and we also brought you the spyshots of the Jeeps getting tested on Indian soil a little while ago. Chrysler has just unveiled the 2014 Jeep Cherokee. The 2014 Cherokee will replace the Jeep Liberty. The 2014 Cherokee is Jeep’s entry level offering and is meant to eat into the sales of crossovers like the Honda-CRV and and do we need to say that it will make its way to the Indian roads? Surely it will.
The Cherokee will be showcased at the New York Auto Show in March 2013 and we can expect the final details then but till now we’ll have to suffice with Fiat has disclosed. The mid-sized SUV is quite the looker and the legacy it comes with will surely attract buyers all over the world. The SUV will hit the roads in the latter half of the year and the crossover will be manufactured at the company’s facility in Ohio.
Fiat-Chrysler has already disclosed that the Grand Cherokee and Wrangler will hit the Indian roads soon and we expect the Cherokee to join them as well. Initially, the Jeeps will be brought in the country as CBUs but once the volumes pick up, we can safely expect the cars to see a price reduction when they hit the roads via the CKD route. Chrysler intends on using their Indian facility for manufacturing right hand drive Jeeps which would be meant for domestic as well as Export purposes.
Cherokee has its underpinnings from the Fiat compact wide platform. The motors doing duty under the bonnet will be a 3.2 litre V6 petrol motor and the one which will bring in a lot of buyers will be the 4 cylinder diesel motor whose specifications are not known as of now. The engines will be mated to a 9 speed automatic transmission coupled with front wheel and all wheel drive versions on offer as well. We expect the pricing to be in the range of Rs.20-25 lakhs and that would surely be a cause of worry for the Toyota Fortuner.
Also read- Jeep Testing SUVs On Indian Roads Before Launch
