[navaneeth]

Originally Posted by andafunda

Mahindra may be a glorified tractor maker, but they are going in the right direction.

True, if it's all about legacy, we wouldn't have a heavily updated Thar that everyone wanted from a tractor manufacturer or a stylish hatchback and affordable yet reliable EV from a truck and cab manufacturer ( TATA ).

With less than 1000 units a month and dealerships in major cities being the major volume movers, there are probably some dealerships that are struggling to make profits. If legacy continues to be the marketing strategy of Jeep India and if they find themselves proud for making their products pricier, sooner or later the brand will hit the dust. Hope the facelift can make things better for Jeep in India but if the price climbs further, Compass will be competing with full-size SUVs ( in 2021, when the Compass is being compared with rivals from a segment below )

[achyutaghosh]

Originally Posted by GTO

The problem with Jeep India is that they have a huge superiority complex, and they genuinely believe that their brand & their product are vastly superior to everyone else's. That's why the premium pricing at the start, that's why the inability to correct prices after cheaper options arrived in the market + took away their customers, that's why no alarm bells rang when the sales fell (they are a rather smug group), that's why the Diesel AT came so late = a feeling of superiority can make you complacent. Waiting to see if the facelift is well-timed or ill-timed and how the market responds to it.

They sure are flying high on their brand & product. Confidence is good, overconfidence not so.

That their products are better than others- it is more of a company ethos that i feel any organization with the heritage of Jeep is obvious to have. Is that a superiority complex? Maybe. But i also feel the issue with Jeep is also a general lack of connectedness to the Indian market.

The pricing for their cars before Compass was atrocious indeed, and continue to remain so, even after minor reductions. Even the sales folks believe that, and so at any Jeep showroom, there is hardly any attempt to talk about models other than Compass.

The Compass on the other hand was very well priced right from launch- had this model not been around, FCA would have winded up in India by now. What FCA faltered on, was to improve the price to value equation after competition intensified. As consumers started expecting more features given competitive offerings, they failed to add features to the Compass variants. Couple that with unpredictable service quality and they experienced sales decline.

Another problem that plagues FCA is organization nimbleness- and this is due to both bureaucracy and prioritization. Having been in a similar company, i know that capital allocation, investment priorities, product updates and rollouts, especially in insignificant markets, take a lot more time than say the Koreans and the Japanese competition. So their glacial pace on launch of diesel auto, feature enhancements, new products is kind of endemic to corporate culture, not only the pride factor. Bit of a chicken and egg situation i guess.

Bottomline- Think Jeep is still in two minds about India.

[saumitra_joshi]

Originally Posted by Pancham

Your post was hard to read so apologies if I missed anything. Please do look at the calculations in my post as well. Request you to redo your calculations considering the above factors. In my view, both outright and loan wins the race here. Happy to be proven wrong.

My apologies as I had copied and pasted a table from LibreOffice Calc which translated in odd HTML code and moderator had to delete it. Here are my calculations:

On Road Price of Car: 2960989

Lease Calculations:

Lease Costs @ 60K * 60 Months: INR 3600000
Tax Benefit 30% @18K *60 Months: INR 1080000
Total Spend on the Car: INR 2520000

Residual Value of Car at 50%: INR 1300000
Net Costs: INR 3820000


Loan Calculations (Assuming 5 Lakh Downpayment):

Loan Amount: INR 2000000
Registration Costs: INR 382000
EMI @39602 for 60 Months: INR 2376120
Insurance @ Avg 50K/Year INR 250000
Opportunity Cost for Downpayment @6% INR 169112 (Yearly compounding for 5 years at 6%)
Maintenance at 12K/Year INR 60000
Battery Replacement INR 9000
Tyre Replacement @50K INR 50000

Net Costs INR 3809129


See these calculations. The costs are *almost* the same for purchase v/s lease assuming an IDV of 50%. In my humble opinion, the IDV is likely to be much less than 13 Lakhs, especially with electric cars coming into vogue. Also, I have assumed only 6% interest on opportunity costs, in reality it is likely to be higher. Given this calculation, I believe leasing as an option makes more sense unless someone can tell me where I have blundered in my calculations

[getlakshya]

New information based on China spec Jeep Compass:

Price starts at Rs 15.79 lac(petrol)

There are two infotainment screens - 8.4 inch(for lower 2 variants) and 10.1 inch screen for the rest of the variants

Source: https://www.jeep.com.cn/compass/cmca/

P.S: While the two markets and the competitive landscape is completely different but just wanted to park this with like-minded people who will find any incremental information helpful and find 7th January to be too long a wait

[scarezebra]

Originally Posted by getlakshya

New information based on China spec Jeep Compass:

Price starts at Rs 15.79 lac(petrol)

There are two infotainment screens - 8.4 inch(for lower 2 variants) and 10.1 inch screen for the rest of the variants

Source: https://www.jeep.com.cn/compass/cmca/

P.S: While the two markets and the competitive landscape is completely different but just wanted to park this with like-minded people who will find any incremental information helpful and find 7th January to be too long a wait

There is one concerning aspect on the Chinese website though. The brown leather interior option is just restricted to the top end diesel variant. I hope they change that for India.

Also regarding the pricing. Were the prices at parity for the Indian and Chinese version for the previous/current version?

[dragonfire]

Originally Posted by andafunda

Here is John Cadogan (basically the best Aussie reviewer) on Jeep:

When he gives you an opinion about Jeeps, that is against what is available in Australia as competition. Most of which are not available here. And surely he does not have any Mahindra in mind, surely not an XUV500.

Give him a Compass and XUV500 and ask him to choose - you won't be surprised.

[ram87pune]

Here is an interview of Partha Dutta (President and MD FCA) with Hormazd. Clears a lot of air regarding FCA's future in India as well as what to expect in the upcoming Compass facelift.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b3kBoR-8IrM

[navaneeth]

Originally Posted by ram87pune

Here is an interview of Partha Dutta (President and MD FCA) with Hormazd. Clears a lot of air regarding FCA's future in India as well as what to expect in the upcoming Compass facelift.

https://m.Youtube.com/watch?v=b3kBoR-8IrM

Looks like they are getting serious about the Indian market.

a) Launching a sub 4 meter SUV and 7 seater SUV (within 2 years).
b) Facelifted compass will have gizmos that the other brands already provide. He mentioned connected car features and spacious cabins.
c) Sport variant will get an automatic transmission.
d) Products will be updated frequently ( It took a few years to make this decision though ).
e) Local assembly of Wrangler and Grand Cherokee. They are very low volume niche products, not sure how the local assembly is going to be helpful unless there is a huge price drop.

I am not sure why he said "we are right-sized" when the interviewer asked about expanding the dealer network. I don't think anyone will buy a car if the service center is 150km away or so (unless it's an ultra-luxury brand and there are other cars lying around in the garage to be used while one car is on vacation).

[Shreyas_H]

Also came across this article -

https://www.businesstoday.in/sectors...ry/426961.html

Fiat Chrysler to pump in $250 million in India to roll out new SUVs
The investment will be made to locally manufacture a mid-size, three-row SUV, assemble the Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Cherokee vehicles in the country and launch a new version of its Jeep Compass SUV, FCA said in a statement

This should lay to rest some of the worries people had about FCA's future in India.

[Venkatesh]

After Sonu Sood and Radhika Apte, Mahesh Babu promotes New Jeep Compass

[cool_dube]

Originally Posted by Venkatesh

After Sonu Sood and Radhika Apte, Mahesh Babu promotes New Jeep Compass

I reckon they are getting too dramatic (read "filmy") now

[Sebring]

Nowhere have I seen celebs hold out such cards. Very limp. Usually ad agencies do test shoots like this. And, the messages are cliched and dramatic, to be honest. Lacks thrill

Originally Posted by Venkatesh

After Sonu Sood and Radhika Apte, Mahesh Babu promotes New Jeep CompassAttachment 2102956

[getlakshya]

Your calculation is correct. Leasing is perfect for someone looking to hop to a new vehicle every 3/4/5 year. If you plan to hold it for let's say 8+ year, then buying will make sense.

In 2019 the lowest spec was priced around 15 lac (but the comparison is colored due to change in the exchange rate and the implementation of BS-VI from April 2020 in India).

[adneo]

Originally Posted by Iceman33

As far as XUV is concerned, comparing a legendary company like Jeep with a company which has some experience in making low cost tractors is bit ambitious. Even if you leave heritage factor, XUV quality and finish is just not to the level of Compass’s, IMO

No offence but I just could not pass this one. I think every company at some point starts from humble beginnings but we shouldn't belittle their work or aspirations if they are really putting in the effort to reach their goals.

Another reason I couldn't stop myself from responding to the comment is this made me recall the incident about Ferrari snubbing Lamborghini as a Tractor manufacturer and look where Lamborghini is now today.

If you look at all the customer surveys across the globe, you will realise Jeep is rather famous for their pathetic quality control. They are superstars on such lists particularly in the US as well.

[dragonfire]

Originally Posted by adneo

If you look at all the customer surveys across the globe, you will realise Jeep is rather famous for their pathetic quality control. They are superstars on such lists particularly in the US as well.

Not just bad QC, their cars were pathetic. Just that Compass is not really a Jeep. Its a Fiat. Almost nothing in it comes from the Jeep family. Be it the platform or the engine. The Compass is no Japanese or Korean, but still a lot better than the true blood Jeeps.