FCA India unveils 2021 Jeep Compass, despatches to begin soon

FCA India today unveiled the 2021 Jeep Compass, which will continue to be locally manufactured in India at FCA’s joint venture manufacturing facility in Ranjangaon, near Pune. Production of the New Jeep Compass has already begun and is ready for India market launch. Despatches of the SUV to Jeep brand dealerships across the country will begin shortly while bookings have commenced.

On January 5, FCA had announced an expansion to the local product line-up in India, confirming that an investment of over $250 million (Rs 1,850 crore) has been committed towards the production of four new Jeep SUVs by end-2022. The 2021 Jeep Compass is the first of these. It will be followed by a locally produced and global-first three-row Jeep SUV, as well as the iconic Jeep Wrangler and next- generation Grand Cherokee flagship, which will both be locally assembled. 

The 2021 Jeep Compass continues to sport the Jeep brand styling elements including the seven-slot grille and trapezoidal wheel arches. However, it now gets a pair of new projector LED headlamps as well as tail lamps, and a new set of diamond-cut alloy wheels.

On the inside, the evolution of the Jeep Compass is evident in its new interior layout and cabin theme which reeks a sense of craftsmanship and functionality. There’s an all-new dashboard design with its metal-accented mid bolster that runs across the dashboard and houses slender air vents, which are neatly tucked under the brow of the dashboard. The centre console has also been updated to offer more storage spaces.

The SUV gets an all-new popped-out 10.1-inch HD touchscreen infotainment display with Jeep’s proprietary Uconnect-5 interface. The touchscreen is aided by another brand-new 10.25-inch fully-digital instrument cluster and there is a redesigned steering wheel with new horizontally-sitting Jeep logo.

Staying connected
Jeep says that the infotainment hardware is five times faster than before and is capable of receiving OTA updates throughout the lifecycle of the vehicle. The system also supports wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The Uconnect-5 is also compatible with the Jeep mobile application that allows customers to remotely lock / unlock, start the car and also check vehicle health and report theft.

It is noteworthy that on December 16, FCA had committed US$ 150 million (Rs 1,110 crore) to set up its Global Digital Hub in Hyderabad. The company could be seen taking leverage of its India’s software capabilities to drive more innovation in its connected-car and driver-assistance technologies in the coming future.

According to Dr Partha Datta, president and managing director, FCA India, “India is the second market in the world with the new Compass being revealed globally. We have used all lessons in our journey so far to make quantum leaps and make the product more modern, connected and sophisticated, while retaining the Jeep DNA.”

The company has sold over 50,000 units of the Jeep Compass in India since the brand’s introduction in October 2017. With the refreshed Compass, FCA India aims to redraw its focus on ownership experience and aftersales support as well. It aims to forge stronger ties with customers by organising various ‘Jeep Trails’ expedition programmes as well as collaborating with the nine Jeep Owners’ Clubs already existing across the country.

“We will amplify the ‘Jeep Life’ programme to offer a curated ownership experience as well as reward programmes and loyalty to our customers,” Dr Datta said.

In terms of export, while India is the hub for manufacturing of Compasses for right-hand-drive markets, FCA India has doubled exports over the last three years by shipping 20,000 units in 2020. It now has plans to introduce the made-in-India Compass in Australia, New Zealand and Japan ‘soon’.

Strong, dependable, reliable
The company is pushing the 2021 Compass as a strong, dependable and reliable offering, with enhanced connectivity and safety.

The SUV gets active safety systems such as ESC, panic brake assist, rollover mitigation, hill-start assist and hill-decent controls among others. While it retains the electronic parking brake that was introduced in 2017, Jeep has also equipped the refreshed Compass with a 360-degree around-view camera module as well.

The car is assembled from high-tensile strength steel by deploying laser welding and it offers Jeep’s SelecTerrain 4x4 system that now gets a switchable toggle inside the cabin to offer more digital feel to customers.

The 2021 Jeep Compass will continue to be offered with a 1.4-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine option or the 2.0-litre, four-cylinder diesel in both manual and automatic transmission options.            

“The last three years have been full of understanding and learning from our customers and we have had unwavering support from our dealer and financial partners in India. The aspiration of owning the Jeep brand is growing significantly and we strive to delight our customers with the new offering” Dr Datta concluded.