So what is Jeep getting to India? For the sensible individual who is looking for a large and brutish SUV that is still comfortable and presentable in the fancy office parking lot, you have the Grand Cherokee. The standard Grand Cherokee gets a 3.0-litre turbo diesel engine that makes 240bhp and returns 12.8km/l and that should be good enough for most. If you do have a lot more money and want something completely crazy under the hood of your Grand Cherokee, Jeep will sell you the completely bonkers SRT. Essentially the SRT gets a 6.4-litre V8 that makes a 'modest' 470bhp and turns petrol into exhaust music quicker than you can imagine! Incidentally, the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT is also the largest engined car one can buy in India - instant bragging rights then! In case you want to know everything about Jeep Grand Cherokee, click here.
But what we are most excited about is the Wrangler. Now, sadly, India will not get the iconic 3-door Wrangler with the V6 petrol engine and will only get a diesel-powered 4-door wrangler. And to be honest, driving a Wrangler on the road is not a very satisfying experience since underneath the skin is some very old-school tech. So why are we excited about it? The sheer number of aftermarket modifications you can do to a Wrangler is longer than the car itself and then you have it's off-road capabilities in standard form. With a proper low-range transfer box and locking differentials, the high-torque Jeep Wrangler makes minced meat of almost every single obstacle you throw at it. You can literally climb every mountain and ford every stream without really breaking a sweat - or breaking your car!
Most premium SUV buyers in India never take their SUVs off-road. This will start changing when people start buying cars like the Wrangler that offer them a good mix of an iconic and genuinely cool car with one of the best off-road capabilities that a stock car offer. The off-roading scene in India has seen a huge increase in participation year-on-year for the last few years with the likes of the Mahindra Thar and the Force Gurkha offering relatively cheaper solutions. Off-road clubs and meets have grown exponentially in almost every major city in the country which in turn has grown the off-road accessories market too. The Wrangler is the first SUV that is more capable off-road than either of those and is still premium enough to look good at the golf course over the weekend. So, will we see a brave team enter a souped up Wrangler to the Rainforest Challenge next year? And will we ever see Land Rover finally bring in the next generation Defender to take on the Wrangler at its own game? We certainly hope so on both counts.
Jeep in India will face three type of buyers. The first, and the most difficult to tackle will be the slightly older buyer who has lived though the 80s and 90s where the Jeep brand was still sold in India (under license by the then Mahindra and Mahindra). For them, even today, every SUV is still a 'Jeep' just like every photocopy machine is still a 'Xerox'. This is the kind of buyer who will probably find the new offerings too expensive to justify the Jeep brand but might still consider them since they are well aware of how capable and dependable they are.
Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT
The second type of buyer will be the best for the brand - the new money individual who wants something cool, different and butch enough to boost their ego. This is the kind of buyer you can expect to modify his or her Jeep Wrangler with a whole bunch of aftermarket accessories like a lift-kit, big tyres and off-road bumpers but never take it off road or install a set of chrome 24-inch wheels on their Grand Cherokee to make it even more 'bling' than it already is.
The final type of buyer will be the well researched 'Jeep-fan' who will know exactly what they are buying and will know exactly what these cars are capable of. Expect these individuals to modify their Wranglers in good taste but actually use them to their best capabilities off-road on a regular basis. In fact, these buyers will be the poster-children of the Jeep enthusiast community that will certainly influence a whole range of other buyers to opt for the Jeep brand as compared to competition.
Talking about serious competition, the Grand Cherokee will face stiff competition from the likes of the BMW X5, Mercedes GLE/GLS and the Audi Q7. The Wrangler doesn't really have any real competition when it comes to capabilities but from a price perspective will go up against the likes of the Mercedes-Benz GLC, Land Rover Discovery Sport, Audi Q5 and the BMW X3 amongst others.Jeep's future plans also include a more mainstream assault on the SUV market in India with a sub Rs 20 lakh vehicle, the C-SUV (which will be unveiled globally in the next few weeks) and the sub 30-lakh Jeep Renegade compact SUV that has already won high praise worldwide with its classically influenced styling and good on-road/off-road mannerisms. The C-SUV will go right up against the likes of popular SUVs like the Hyundai Creta, Mahindra XUV500. On the other hand, the Renegade will take on compact SUVs like the Audi Q3, BMW X1 and the Mercedes-Benz GLA. As we mentioned earlier, Jeep's entry into the Indian market might be later, but as the proverb says, 'Better late than never!'
