Jeep Compass Bags Over 8,000 Bookings, Prices Start From Rs 14.95 lakh!

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) India launched the Compass small SUV in India in late July. In less than a month since its launch, the Compass has garnered over 8,000 bookings. This new model is the cheapest Jeep SUV in India. It may be noted here that the iconic SUV manufacturer started its Indian innings with the Wrangler and Grand Cherokee. While both of these are hugely-capable machines, high import duties ensured that these two don’t exactly look like value-for-money propositions. Also, such high price tags mean these SUVs cater to a very niche market. Now, however, Jeep India has pulled up its socks and has forayed into the mainstream market with the Compass. The Jeep Compass India prices start from Rs 14.95 lakh. While its specifications and features list puts it at par with most rivals, the high brand image it enjoys won’t have a parallel in the market. You can find all the details on the Jeep Compass India in this post.

Also See – Upcoming SUVs in India | Jeep Renegade Small SUV

The Compass is already on sale in many international markets and has been rather quick in establishing itself. Even in India, the buzz this SUV has already created could translate into stellar success. While the Jeep brand did take some time to come to India, it now looks like the manufacturer is ready to make for the delayed launch by coming up with a well-sorted product like the Compass. The new Jeep SUV is being assembled entirely at the company’s Indian facility. It will be even exported to many other markets under the ‘Make in India’ campaign. Local assembly should help the brand price its new SUV really competitively.

Also See – 5 Reasons to Buy Jeep Compass

The Jeep Compass will commence its Indian innings with two engine options – 2.0-litre Multijet II Turbo Diesel and 1.4-litre T-Jet Turbo Petrol. Internationally, there’ a 2.4-litre gasoline burner that powers this SUV. Thanks to India’s love for Diesel-powered SUVs, this engine won’t be available in India. The 2.0-litre oil burner for India outputs a max. power of 170 HP and a peak torque of 350 Nm. The 1.4-litre Petrol mill outputs 160 HP and 250 Nm. Both these engines will offer manual and automatic transmissions. The Petrol engine will be available with a 6-speed Manual and a 7-speed Automatic transmission. The Diesel engine gets a 6-speed Manual Transmission along with a 9-speed Automatic Gearbox.

Bookings- The Jeep Compass made its India debut on April 12, 2017. Bookings for the new model are already underway. You can pre-order this model for yourself for a booking amount of ₹ 50,000.

Jeep Compass Price in India

Thanks to the buzz the new Jeep SUV has created, We were pretty excited about this car’s prices, which are out now. The base trim of Jeep Compass will cost Rs 14.95 lakh (ex-showroom) while the top-end diesel trim will cost Rs 20.65 lakh (ex-showroom). At such a price point, the Compass will rival everything from the Hyundai Tucson and Honda CR-V to the Toyota Fortuner and Ford Endeavour. Not just this, it will even have to compete with top-end model of the Mahindra XUV500. We have already come up with comparisons of the Compass with these models. You can find details on how these cars compare later in this story. For now, let’s focus on variant-wise price breakdown of Jeep Compass, starting with the petrol model.

Petrol

all prices ex-showroom

For now, only the petrol model of the Jeep Compass will come offer an automatic gearbox. The prices of the petrol model start from Rs 14.95 lakh and go all the way up to Rs 19.40 lakh. For what you get in the top-end petrol trim of the Jeep Compass, scroll down to the variant-wise feature list breakdown we have for you there.

Diesel

all prices ex-showroom

The diesel lineup of the Jeep Compass carries a starting price tag of Rs 15.45 lakh. Admittedly, not only are there more diesel trims on offer but some of them will be available with 4×4 capability too, something the petrol models of this car miss out on. However, on the Jeep Compass, only the top-end Limited variants of the diesel engine get the 4×4 capability. If you do not wish to own the Jeep Compass diesel with 4×4 capability but all features, you need to pay out a price of Rs 18.75 lakh for the Limited O trim. To get the Jeep Compass with 4×4 capability and all features that are on offer, the price for Limited O 4×4 trim is Rs 20.65 lakh.

Also See – Jeep Wrangler and Grand Cherokee Off Road Review

Jeep Compass India Specifications

In India, the Compass will go on sale with two engine options. The Petrol engine option displaces 1.4-litre and outputs a max. power of 160 BHP and a peak torque of 250 Nm. The Diesel engine displaces around 2.0-litre and outputs a max. power of 170 BHP and a peak torque of 350 Nm. Both the engines of the Compass come with Manual and Automatic transmissions. The diesel models get a 9-speed Automatic gearbox, which will be launched in India in January 2018. The petrol variants get a 7-speed dual-clutch dual-clutch automatic gearbox. Manual transmissions for both motors is a 6-cog unit. The Compass is built on a Fiat-derived platform and gets a 4WD system. Drive modes on offer are Auto, Snow, Sand and Mud.

Internationally, the Compass is available with a 2.4-litre Petrol engine. This engine outputs a max. power of 180 BHP and comes mated to a 6-speed Manual or a 9-speed Automatic transmission. However, India is known for its love for Diesel SUVs. Hence, Jeep has found it only apt to not bring this engine to India. We aren’t complaining either.

Jeep Compass India Mileage

*ARAI-certified

Jeep India has revealed the ARAI-certified mileage figures of the diesel Compass. The mileage of petrol Compass is not out yet. However, we believe that in real-world conditions, the Petrol engine will be good for a fuel economy of 12-13 KMPL. The Diesel engine, on the other hand, delivers a mileage of up to 17.1 KMPL in 4×2 version. Equipping the car with 4×4 capability brings its mileage down to 16.3 KMPL. When the diesel engine gets a 9-speed gearbox (likely in January 2018), expect the mileage figures to be revised upwards.

It is mainly due to this that Diesels, which mostly offer a higher mileage than their petrol counterparts, do so well in India. Also, the fact that Diesel is slightly cheaper than Petrol also helps the case of Diesel engines. That said, there’s a very slight shift towards Petrol engines of late. Petrol motors still hold an advantage in areas such as refinement and sportiness. No wonder then, that, gasoline motors are slowly gaining some popularity. However, mileage still plays a very important role. And it is because of this very reason that Jeep didn’t bring the 2.4-litre Petrol engine to India.

Jeep Compass India – Features

Jeep is ready to launch the Compass SUV in India in as many as five trims. There are- Sport, Longitude, Longitude (O), Limited, Limited (O). Out of these, the Petrol engine is only available in three trims- Sport, Limited, Limited (O). The Diesel engine is available in all five trims. The India-spec Compass is a fairly feature-laden model. Features such as Dual zone Climate Control and Terrain Select System give a touch of richness to this model.

Here’s the variant-wise features list of the India-spec Jeep Compass-

Jeep Compass Sport Features-

• 6-speed Manual Transmission
• All-black interior
• 5″ U connect touch screen infotainment system with 4 speakers
• Halogen lamps with DRLs
• Electric Mirrors
• Electronic park brake
• All 4 disc brakes
• ABS with EBD
• 16″ steel wheels
• Keyless entry
• TCS
• ESC
• ISOFIX seats
• Hill Start Assist
• Roll mitigation
• Capless fuel filler
• Dual Front Airbags

Jeep Compass Longitude Features-

• Diesel Engine Only
• 6-speaker system
• Cornering fog lamps
• 17″ 5-spoke alloy wheels
• Push button Start
• Rear parking sensors
• Front and Rear fog lamps
• Beige and black interior
• Keyless Entry

Jeep Compass Longitude (O) Features-

• Projector Headlamps with LED DRLs
• Apple Carplay and Android Auto
• Diesel Engine Only
• 17″ 10-spoke alloy wheels
• 7″ U Connect touch screen system
• Auto A/c controls on touchscreen system
• Dual zone Climate Control
• Carbon air filter
• Black roof rails
• Rear parcel shelf

Jeep Compass Limited Features

• Petrol and Diesel Engine Options
• 7-speed Dry DCT (petrol only)
• Rear spoiler
• LED DRLs
• Door scuff plates
• Reverse parking camera
• Leather steering wheel
• LED tail lamps
• Leather seats
• Selec-Terrain with AWD
• Rear camera
• Front side and curtain airbags
• Grey interior

Jeep Compass Limited (O) Features-

• HID headlamps
• Black roof

Jeep Compass 4×4 Features

• Available in Limited and Limited O variants
• Side airbags
• Curtain airbags
• Jeep Active Drive
• Selec-Terrain system

Jeep Compass India Review – Exterior Design

In terms of Design, the Compass borrows heavily from the Grand Cherokee. It gets Jeep’s signature 7 slat grille. The headlamps feature LED DRLs and projector units, at least on the top end trims. The side profile of the Jeep Compass is characterised by squared off wheel arches and a thick C-pillar. There is a chrome strip that runs along the window line and wraps around the rear windshield.

At the back, there are split LED tail lamps along with a dual tone bumper and a skid plate. The top end Limited variant of the Jeep Compass could feature a blacked out roof, roof rails and rear roof spoiler. Jeep SUVs are known for the off road capabilities and the Jeep Compass certainly looks the part.

Jeep Compass India – Colour Options

• Exotica red
• Brillian black
• Minimal grey
• Hydro blue
• Vocal white

Above are the five colour choices the Jeep Compass will offer in India. The interior gets just one colour theme of dark grey-white.

Jeep Compass India Review – Interior Design

Much like the exterior, the interior of the Jeep Compass borrow heavily from existing Jeep models. The steering wheel is quite similar to the Renegade while the centre console bears some resemblance to the Grand Cherokee’s. The overall design of the cabin is very modern. The steering wheel feels good to hold and the rim is of just the right thickness. The cabin comes finished in a dark grey-white tone and looks premium enough. The dashboard even gets some gloss black trim that further helps the cabin look more premium. The Compass offers enough space to seat 5 in reasonable comfort. The boot-space is enough to swallow all the luggage of a small family for a small vacation.

Top end variants will feature a touchscreen infotainment system. The Jeep Compass offers seating for five occupants. The cabin of the Jeep Compass comes finished in a combination of light and dark materials.The fit and finish and the quality of materials is top notch. Even the features list is long enough, at least for the top-end models.

Jeep Compass India Dimensions

The Compass isn’t a large SUV by any stretch of imagination. Measuring 4,420 mm in length, the Compass is only 150 mm longer than the Hyundai Creta. Its width of 1,820 mm is only 40 mm more than that of the Korean small SUV. To further put things in perspective here, the Toyota Fortuner measures 4,705 mm in length and 1,840 mm in width. Hence, the Compass can’t be compared to medium-size SUVs like the Endeavour and the Fortuner. However, it is definitely bigger than the Creta.

Jeep Compass India – Competition

The prices of Jeep Compass start from Rs 14.95 lakh for the base variant petrol model and go all the way up to Rs 20.65 lakh for the top-end diesel model. This will put it face-to-face with the likes of Hyundai Tucson and the Honda CR-V. However, the Compass will likely face heat from the top-end models of the Creta and the Mahindra XUV500 as well. Apart from this, the top-end models of the Compass will rival the entry-level versions of the Fortuner and Endeavour. The Jeep brand, along with the fact that Compass’ top-end diesel model costs Rs 20.65 lakh will likely end up eating into the share of entry-level trims seven-seater SUVs from Ford and Toyota.

We have decided to compare the Compass with all the above competition. Here are links to our comparison reports-

• Hyundai Creta vs Jeep Compass
• Hyundai Tucson vs Jeep Compass
• Mahindra XUV500 vs Jeep Compass
• Ford Endeavour vs Jeep Compass
• Toyota Fortuner vs Jeep Compass
• Volkswagen Tiguan vs Jeep Compass

To highlight the differences between the Compass and the upcoming Renegade compact SUV, we’ve even compared these two models. Here’s how they compare-

Jeep Compass vs Jeep Renegade

Jeep Compass India – Engines and Transmissions

In India, the Jeep Compass will go on sale with both Petrol and Diesel engines. While the Petrol engine on offer is a 1.4-litre T-Jet turbocharged engine, the Diesel engine displaces almost 2.0-litres and is a turbocharged Multijet II unit. Both these engines come mated to a 6-speed Manual Transmission as standard. However, you can get either of these motors with an automatic gearbox as well. While the Petrol models get 7-speed dry dual-clutch automatic transmission, the diesel models make do with a 9-speed automatic gearbox. The India-spec Compass also offers 4×4 with diesel engine. ARAI mileage figures aren’t out yet. However, you can expect the Petrol engine to offer a mileage of 12-13 KMPL and the Diesel engine to offer 17-18 KMPL under normal usage.

Stay tuned to Car Blog India for a detailed review of Jeep Compass.