Jeep Meridian facelift to get 5 and 7-seat options

The Jeep Meridian is set to get a facelift and as previous spy shots had showed, it’ll get subtle design changes, more features than the outgoing model, and come with an ADAS suite. The big news though is that the Meridian will be available in 5-seat and 7-seat form. Jeep India has announced the commencement of bookings for the refreshed SUV, for an amount of Rs 50,000.

That the Meridian will get a 5-seat version is something Autocar India had reported on in August 2024. The 5-seat Meridian should help Jeep price the large SUV a bit more competitively – the outgoing model’s starting price was Rs 31.23 lakh (the range tops off at Rs 39.83 lakh). However, it remains to be seen how it will be positioned when compared to the Compass (Rs 18.99 lakh-32.41 lakh), on which the Meridian is based.

This article was published in the August 2024 issue of Autocar India.

From the teasers on Jeep India’s website, one can see that the Meridian facelift gets a mildly altered grille design – the honeycomb mesh in the seven-slat grille now gets chrome-studs. New alloy wheel designs for the 18-inchers are also expected, along with other minor tweaks, as previous spy shots had showed.

The biggest change on the Meridian facelift will be the addition of a Level 2 ADAS suite; we had previously reported that the refreshed SUV will be getting the tech. Other feature additions include an expanded list of connected car tech.

On the inside, the teaser images show the three-layer dashboard has a grey finish instead of the outgoing model’s beige one, and the chrome strip has been replaced by one with a copper finish. The 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster and 10.1-inch infotainment touchscreen will continue, as will the 9-speaker Alpine audio system, wireless charger, front ventilated seats and other creature comforts and tech.

Jeep India has confirmed that the Meridian facelift will get a 9-speed automatic option, along with 4x2 and 4x4 variants. We expect the outgoing model’s 170hp, 350Nm, 2.0-litre diesel engine to continue. The brand has been evaluating a petrol engine for the Compass in India, which could be offered in the Meridian as well. However, this is unlikely to happen at launch.

All prices, ex-showroom, India