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-   -   India-bound Jeep 7-seater SUV, named Meridian (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/210746-india-bound-jeep-7-seater-suv-named-meridian-30.html)

Happy to be proven wrong, but I am very certain Meridian will not start anywhere closer to Carens top end. Even if Jeep goes with aggressive pricing it will start somewhere around 29 lakhs, else it would be around 33 lakhs ex-showroom.
Honestly I dont expect it to price anywhere near Carens too, as its whole segement or segment and half above Carens (personal opinion)

I dont agree with certain statements posted here like

“Exceedingly unexciting to drive”

And no way an Xuv700 drives better than a Compass.
Though it is definitely a better choice for the price, nowhere does it ride and handle better than the Compass.
I agree wholeheartedly that the transmission is sluggish but i dont understand the unnecessary hate the driving experience gets.

Ive enclosed an acceleration comparison screenshot of Autocarindia’s timings of Compass, Trailhawk and Kodiaq 2.0tdi and as you can see there is nothing much to show between the Kodiaq and Compass S.
So if the timings of Meridian is 1 second off for 0-100 and 3 seconds off for 0-140 its still an acceptable compromise. Because nowhere will the Gloster or Fortuner, even Endeavour have the on road driving comfort of the Meridian. If its anything like the Compass it is going to be a pleasure to drive and travel in.

Also anyone who has driven the Compass will agree the ride(i know its firm but i somehow like the solid ride of the Compass more than the softer but more fickle ride of Kodiaq), handling, steering feel and feedback and indestructible feel is better than the Kodiaq. Though i will rate the Kodiaq better on most other aspects the performance difference is not as wide as posted. Maybe in comparison to Trailhawk but not the regular Compass.

Also acceleration, though an important aspect cant be held as the only yardstick to driving pleasure. If we go by that MG ZS EV is the most exciting car ive driven recently.

Ive owned a 1st gen figo and euro Fiesta 90hp diesel and Jetta tdi and enjoyed driving those cars much more than the 170hp Audi a4 i had, especially the Fiesta

I feel differently, had many back-to-back test drives of both Compass 4*4 diesel auto and Xuv700 diesel auto, I clearly felt that XUV700 drives way better, its gearbox much better calibrated along with a punchier feeling engine (esp. in Zoom Mode). Handling wise too I felt XUV700 is better and its petrol variant is even more agile than Compass.
Compass' low-speed ride, that annoying kickback giving steering, and frustrating gearbox dilute its drive experience a lot. All these factors made us even drop the compass from our purchase list (did'nt book the XUV700 either)

I am looking at this launch fairly simply.. It’s just a seven seater compass. Only new thing I see is the FWD Auto box which was missing in Compass. They better add that to the Compass and see the sales numbers increase.

Expect the ride/handling/planted feel etc to mimic Compass. Price? May be 1.5 to 2 lacs more than the comparable variants of compass.

This was my impression as well. However during my recent visit to Jeep showroom for my second Compass test drive, I was told that the platform is from the compass however the size will be noticeably bigger. He said It won't be a Creta - Alcazar type of 'extension' if you will, although time will shortly tell us if he was right.

Again, he mentioned it will be significantly more expensive. He basically told me it will be close to Fortuner pricing as it is competing with it directly.
I personally doubt it will be of those dimensions, as the way he's describing the Meridian it basically sounds like a Grand Cherokee.

Honestly Kodiaq TDI was itself underpowered, in the lowest state of tune (its a different thing that engine is very mod friendly and most of the owners whom I know are now running with stage 1 remap). And it was the feedback from almost all reviews of Kodiaq. So most likely we are looking at a car which is going to be even slower than Kodiaq TDI.
In terms of drive experience and handling, I have found Kodiaq, XUV700 and Compass more or less same. However Compass has that indestructible feel while Kodiaq has more plushness

So we really cant blame people criticizing Jeep for going lower state of tune, atleast for the money they are going to command. The criticism was there for Kodiaq, also was there when Endeavour dumped their 3.2 and replaced with 2. This is where Toyota went full blaze and got their high state of tune for Fortuner which further increased the desirability of the car

Nice shot of the chacteristic curves. It also lets the cat out of the bag a bit!:D
Peak torque & peak power unfortunately don't intersect at the same rpm - the engine designer's holy grail!
Also the peak torque comes in at 1500 rpm (nicely flat thereafter) which is a bit high for a state-of-the-art turbo diesel. The Thar BS6 touches peak torq at 1250 rpm for the turbo-petrol.

Everything else aside, I am a bit puzzled at this " best in class" top speed claim. What are they trying to promote here? That people should drive recklessly at high triple digit speeds ? Even their famed superstructure won't help in case if a accident at speeds in the vicinity of their claimed top speed. Bad and irresponsible marketing in my opinion.

When everyone is worried about the power and state of the tune, I am worried about Jeep India. Potentially, 40+ lakhs (close to half a crore in some metros for a 2 liter SUV that is not even from the top 3 Germans?) for a car that is slightly elongated than the Compass which itself is not a great seller either with that absurd price revision, how this is going to sell? I am wondering what Stellantis wants to do here? Numbers (by pricing it for sales like Mahindra does) or trying to build an image for Jeep as luxury brand? Putting this car against Fortuner with tiny 2 liter underpowered/under tuned engine, I am really curious about the strategy.

I am like many looking for a good 30+ lakhs 7 seater and for me, this is DoA in both the pricing and the power to weight ratio. I would pick a Fortuner (even a 2nd hand new model one) for sure which has 800 more CC, great go anywhere attitude/stance, rock solid reliability thus better resale value. Or, I completely miss something which Stellantis is not. Or the pricing being discussed are all just assumptions? I am curious.

Can't really agree to that one dear.

I've driven XUV 700 and Compass on the same road with the same load. (I own 700 and my friend is a Compass owner).

Sorry to disappoint you but XUV 700 has better ride and handling. My wife's verdict is that she is much more comfortable in 700 than Compass (and that's equivalent to supreme court's verdict so nobody can question her rl:).

Jokes apart, majority of people in my friend circle who have been in XUV as well as Compass, agree to the same. So let’s give credit where it is due :thumbs up

Looks like some comparisons on specs and dimensions have begun to pour in:





https://www.financialexpress.com/aut...odiaq/2476238/

I drive a compass diesel (facelift) manual. I drove an XUV 500 for 7 years prior to this. Compass overall is a better car except for space. On paper compass is powerful with 170 horses vs 140 in XUV but I always feel that it is not as powerfull as XUV, especially during the initial phase. This might be due to the turbo lag in compass.
I am really curious how this engine will perform in a bigger and heavier Meridian. Also excited about the FWD AT. I would have gone for this if it was available in compass.
Waiting for a test drive.

Good that Fiat-Chrysler-Jeep still have faith in the Indian market and are introducing a new Jeep variant despite their dismal past sales record especially for Fiats in the later years and for the brand Jeep since the past many months.

And the 2020's most popular diesel engine award goes to the Fiat Multijet II 1956 cc, 173 bhp, 350 Nm, diesel engine that is powering the MG's and also the Tata range apart from the Jeep range in India.

The Fiat 1.3 Multijet 1,248 cc, 75 PS (55 kW; 74 bhp) diesel engine since more than a decade ago, till a part of 2010's was a darling of hatch and also sedan buyers of brand Maruti, Fiat and Tata (Quadrajet version also).

Mean to say that the cars with these engines (1.3 Multijet/Quadrajet) sold in the millions (total sales) in India, but the brand Fiat failed to catch up. Trust the Meridian will do good saleswise so that the company gets some oxygen with a new lease of life.

It won't be wrong to assume that the price of certain variants of Meridian will overlap with top end variants of Compass since it's essentially an extended Compass with features of Model S. So the ex-showroom price of Model S MT diesel + (1 to 2 lakhs) is what I assume could be the starting price of Meridian. That is around 26L ex-showroom. They could offer an introductory price as well to garner interests.

I'm in the market for an SUV and started TDing vehicles of my choice. Already did TD of Safari XZA+ and Compass Limited(both manual and 4x4 AT). For my requirements, Meridian checks most of the boxes though I'm slightly inclined towards MT unless they do some fine tuning to the auto box. The auto box in Compass is good and I don't have any complaints as such but the manual has almost zero turbo lag which I really liked. I currently drive a Skoda Rapid 1.6 TDI.

From the foregoing posts it seems clear that the new Meridian evokes mixed reactions.
My take is that there is a novelty value to it – a 9-speed AT with FWD only. It seems that FCA has very definite ideas about what buyers here want. And from the excitement that the 9AT/FWD has evoked they are not far wrong. An SUV with monocoque structure (no threat to the established heavyweights in the body-on-chassis corner), a 9AT with FWD and a mediocre diesel - what that will translate into at the box-office time will tell.

With a 40-50 L OTR price tag, an iffy reputation for customer support and back-up, it should appeal to those who probably want one in the multi-car garage, but may not want to dip their feet in the messy stuff.