When Fiat announced their future plans for India for the next coming years, the company’s most important announcement was the bringing of the iconic American car brand, Jeep to the Indian shores. Fiat announced that the company will be launching the brand in the year 2013 in the Indian market and they seem to be well on track of launching these cars in the Indian car market. The Jeep brand’s iconic cars have reached India and have already started doing test rounds.
Three of the cars due for a launch in the Indian market have touched down on Indian shores and the cars are doing test rounds in Pune. This is because the city is closely situated to the Fiat’s facility at Ranjangaon. Jeep Wrangler, Jeep Wrangler Unlimited and the Jeep Grand Cherokee are the cars that have been found doing rounds and we have the spy-shots of these cars for you. The cars would make their way to the India market through the CBU route which we believe would drive up the prices of the cars.
The cars are being tested through the length and breadth of the city and I personally have seen the cars doing rounds but could not click the pictures as they passed suddenly. The cars are being tested extensively because Fiat wants to ensure that the cars are well suited to the Indian roads and climatic conditions. Indian roads are pretty bad at times and extensive testing will help the company to adjust the upcoming cars according to the Indian roads. The Jeeps are due for homologation at the ARAI facility in Pune.
Fiat has not clearly stated the time of launch but the word on the street is that the Jeep cars would be launched either in late 2013 or early 2014. Fiat intends on expanding its network in 2013 and the Jeep cars shall surely benefit from the better dealer network. The cars which would make their way in the first wave of launch would be the Grand Cherokee, Wrangler and the Wrangler Unlimited. Expect more spy shots to come in soon as the testing of the cars reaches the next level.
Source: Autocar India
