FCA India, the local arm of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, has launched the Jeep Compass at a starting point of ₹14.95 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) pitching it against the Mahindra XUV 500 and the top-end version of the Hyundai Creta.

Announcing the price at a press meet here on Monday, Kevin Flynn, President and Managing Director, said over 5,000 orders had been received for the Compass with at least 38,000 enquiries in place. Deliveries will begin next week and the company plans to pull out all stops to ensure that its retail base, comprising dealerships and after-sales service, meet customer requirements.

At least 15 per cent of the bookings are for the petrol automatic version. The diesel version will take precedence in deliveries as FCA hopes the order books will grow keeping pace with the SUV boom in the country.

Flynn said the current generation of buyers in India was young and passionate while seeking freedom on their terms. It is here that the company is betting big on the Compass to do the trick and get numbers to grow. Over the next two-four months, FCA India will increase its dealerships from 50 to 60.

Paul Alcala, Chief Operating Officer Asia-Pacific (excluding China) at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, was categorical that “while competitors produce SUVs, none of them can produce a Jeep” and this is what gave the brand the edge as the “most capable SUV in the world”.

In the past, Jeep was essentially about North America with hardly a strong local presence elsewhere in the world. All this has changed with the Compass, which will be produced in four exclusive locations: India, Brazil, China and Mexico. As Alcala said, China has two plants producing the Jeep Cherokee, Compass and Renegade, while Brazil is home to the Renegade and Compass.

Mexico is also on stream and India, with its “tremendous potential” is the latest to join the parade.

The Compass produced here will be exported to all right-hand-drive (RHD) markets and the launch date coincided with the first export model for Japan rolling out of the Ranjangaon plant near Pune.

The fact that the Jeep brand accounted for a sizeable 1.4 million units of Fiat Chrysler Automobile sales in 2016 (translating into over a third) puts in perspective why the Compass is an integral part of the growth story.

Localisation levels for the Compass are now 65 per cent and this will be increased to keep pace with cost-efficiencies.

It will be interesting to see if left-hand-drive markets will also come into the Ranjangaon fold though Alcala reiterated that nothing was on the cards as of now. The priority was to kick off production and balance the needs of the Indian market as well as other parts of the world.

According to him, it was important for the company to be “humble” and take one thing at a time. After the Chrysler acquisition and the FCA rechristening, the Jeep brand has been clearly identified as the future growth engine.

In the process, it is quite likely that it will be a while before the Fiat brand revives in India as Jeep (beginning with the Compass) will be top priority for now.

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