Some marquee brands are expected to mark their entry into India at the upcoming Auto Expo. The Jeep brand from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is one such brand expected to debut at India’s largest automotive expo to be held in Delhi next year. The Indian market has been responding well to the sales numbers which has persuaded Fiat Chrysler to go ahead with the Indian launch of these models.
Coming from the Jeep stable are the Grand Cherokee and Wrangler which will create a buzz in the luxury vehicle market. Rival brands include Audi, Mercedes Benz and BMW will have to look out for this competition on its way to India as we speak. The automotive industry recently saw a double digit growth indicating that the market may observe a sustainable turn-around. The sales numbers also saw a pickup in the economy which might have given an assurance to the auto makers to breathe life into their plans once again.
Powering the Jeep Wrangler are 2 engines, the first being a 3.6 litre V6 Penstar petrol engine that delivers 285 hp of max power and 353 Nm of peak torque while the second is a 2.8 litre turbo diesel engine producing a peak power output of 197 hp and a maximum torque of 451 Nm. Transmission duties are performed by a 6 speed manual transmission while the 5 speed automatic transmission is an optional feature. The Grand Cherokee on the other hand is available with 4 engine trims although the one that is likely to make it to the Indian shores will be the 237 hp, 3 litre V6 turbo diesel engine. This engine is mated to a ZF 8 speed automatic transmission.
The Wrangler and the Grand Cherokee were earlier spied in the year 2013 and 2014 testing on the Indian roads. The models that were imported in India for R&D purposes reportedly had 2 variants of 4×2 and 4×4 each. Both the Grand Cherokee as well as the Wrangler are expected to come to India through the CBU route. The Jeep Wrangler costs $ 23,895 (INR 16 lakh) while the Jeep Grand Cherokee costs $ 29,995 (INR 20 lakh) in the US. Expect the price to increase more than twice the aforementioned amount as they land on the Indian soil due to the heavy custom and import duties.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles brand’s Chief Mike Manley, said in an earlier article that the company will begin selling Jeep, the SUV brand central to its global expansion, in India in 2015. They had plans of launching the Jeep brand but several changes were made due to the unstable currencies and a highly competitive environment in the market. The Grand Cherokee and the Wrangler both are expected to launch sometime around March-April. Dealerships for the brand would be first witnessed in cities such as Mumbai and Delhi while plans to expand the network to 10 dealerships in the first year are underway.