[shankar.balan]

More Drooling in Doo-buy...at the price for these things here, anyone can aspire to own one.
The great lamentable sadness in India is that even if you're a company exec at a reasonably high level, you cant afford one of these.

[shankar.balan]

Imagine this all you Jeep people...

Just some thoughts on pricing and line up for Jeep in India.

Jeep ought to have brought their Patriots, Renegades and Compasses of different spec levels, priced nicely from around15 lacs to 22 lacs.

Then the Wranglers of different kinds starting 18 lacs onwards upto around 32 lacs depending on the specs.

Topping the range could have been all the variants of Cherokees and Grand Cherokees playing in the space from 32 lacs upwards to 45 lacs.

That would have been one heck of a lineup for Jeep India and with their fabulous pedigree, no other blighted SUV's would even have got a look in, in this market!!

They could have sewn it up so tight indeed!

[shankar.balan]

At these prices suggested in my previous post, Jeep would have been a democratized product for common folks.

Right now it is a DEMON-CRATIZED Product - only for nasty DEMONS like Politicians and Rogues and Real Estate Devils etc.

[Turbanator]

Then the Wranglers of different kinds starting 18 lacs onwards upto around 32 lacs depending on the specs

Shankar, I understand your frustration but I don't think they have any variant lower than 25,000 USD which at Zero duties translates to about 18Lac. Even if they were to produce everything here they will still have to pay 30 % Excise + 15 on VAT/ CST

even at 30 Lac, I don't see a possibility that Jeep can do 3 digit numbers, there will be many comparo threads in no time -Wrangler vs Fortuner vs Endeavour or Thar Best case practical scenario, hire consultants at Mercedes and then convince your HO to transfer Jeeps at costs. They can surely manage 2 digit numbers @ 45-55 Lac.

[RoadTrippin]

At the risk of being overly cynical or near tinfoil hat status, i am amazed and appalled by the number of reviews in India that make nothing but a passing reference to the pricing and says little to nothing critical of a product that is massively sub-par for its pricing.

I can understand that reviewers might have driven the product before prices were revealed but how do they not adjust their reviews when publishing it after they know about the pricing. Shocking stuff.

[teemus]

From the news that I have had from sources, Jeep has managed to sell almost all the Grand Cherokee's that were imported in the first lot which includes SRT versions too! No news about the Wrangler sales though.

Looks like it's not a bad start at all!

Eagerly waiting for TBHP monthly sales figures to see if it is true.

[wilful]

Originally Posted by teemus

From the news that I have had from sources, Jeep has managed to sell almost all the Grand Cherokee's that were imported in the first lot which includes SRT versions too! No news about the Wrangler sales though.

Looks like it's not a bad start at all!

Eagerly waiting for TBHP monthly sales figures to see if it is true.

Gosh! That is quite surprising!
I'm sure those FCA eggheads will now turn their noses up and say 'I told you so' disdainfully.
How many Grand Cherokees did they import btw?

[teemus]

Originally Posted by wilful

Gosh! That is quite surprising!
I'm sure those FCA eggheads will now turn their noses up and say 'I told you so' disdainfully.
How many Grand Cherokees did they import btw?

If the figure is to be believed it's around 30. Though, not a high number still for a car costing more than 1Cr. that is a blockbuster start.

If the news is true, there is in fact a waiting for Grand Cherokee and more are expected to be arriving soon.

[wilful]

Originally Posted by teemus

If the figure is to be believed it's around 30. Though, not a high number still for a car costing more than 1Cr. that is a blockbuster start.

If the news is true, there is in fact a waiting for Grand Cherokee and more are expected to be arriving soon.

30 is a tremendous start for the crore plus Grand Cherokee! And a waiting period?? I don't think any of us foresaw this when it was launched at such a high price.

[shankar.balan]

I am amazed.
Must be all those celebs, politicos and real estate devils as predicted earlier.
But 30 cars in a month for a Rs 1 Cr. Plus vehicle is no mean achievement!

[h14]

The Chennai JEEP dealership is almost ready. Visited them today and the entire line-up was present!

Ah, the exhaust note of the SRT was something!

Sweet news was that they have bagged 5 bookings already and are pumped up.

Wishing RDC Royale all the very best in the JEEP world and wish they continue their FIAT success into JEEP as well. (RDC has constantly been the no1 in FIAT sales in the Country).

[desdemona]

The Grand Cherokee was, in the original FCA plan-for-India (in 2013/14, i think) slated for assembly in India, while a 'c suv' was set to be quite localized, including for rhd exports. The latter has been confirmed by FCA India recently (the new Compass), and a smaller, localized, Fiat platform-based b-suv (Renegade-like) also near-confirmed after the Compass is launched in mid to late 2017.

The question is whether the earlier plans to assemble (presumably as much or mainly for re-export to rhd markets like Australia, japan and even the UK, given the collapse of the uk pound sterling?) the Grand Cherokee (and the Wrangler family?) still hold. If so: by when?

JEEP senior management in Australia had stated that India-as-assembly-centre of the all-new 2017/2018 Wrangler (for export to rhd markets like Australia) was likely. This was a few months ago (read that on one of the main aussie automotive websites.)

Don't know the data points in detail, BUT a priori it'd appear that the currency situation between the us$ and even the euro versus the yen, the pound and the aussie$ does tend to suggest that FCA would be well-advised to use India as a re-export-after-ckd-assembly centre to these rhd markets that are familiar with and like the JEEP brand (whatever the current sales blues in Australia, due in part precisely to their over-pricing brought on by the elevated relative value of the us$.)

Whether that means they'll be able to therefore get their pricing of these halo models down enough in India for a real and, more importantly, sustained go against the other 'premium'/'luxe' suv-s sellers (the Germans+LR+now Lexus+Volvo) here, remains to be seen.

In ANY case, exports or not, they'd better ensure the sales and after sales quality and quantity of the new or old-Fiat-now-Jeep dealers is totally unobjectionable, which in turn would seem to require ensuring their sustainable financial profitability, the VERY thing they've struggled with with the admittedly much cheaper, much lower-margin and more-mass-market Indian Fiats. A steady and relatively brisk cadence of new product, whether localized or ckd, IS essential then, surely, over the next 2-3 years?

A brand and its dealers: being at-birth is a delicate and dangerous time: new borns' immunity levels are low, and India is a sometimes/often/usually(?) toxic market for such new borns or indeed oldies (i.e., FIAT)?!

[swami69]

Originally Posted by teemus

From the news that I have had from sources, Jeep has managed to sell almost all the Grand Cherokee's that were imported in the first lot which includes SRT versions too! No news about the Wrangler sales though.

Looks like it's not a bad start at all!

Eagerly waiting for TBHP monthly sales figures to see if it is true.

Oh. I thought after their ridiculous pricing, there may not be any bookings and was looking for Jeep Wrangler in the Big Billion and Amazon Festive sale at a Discount

[desdemona]

The pricing was about where it would've and could've been, imo, given the slew of compounding taxes, and given the strong us$ relative to the rupee or any asian currency these days.

Whether they will, say in 2017 or 2018, decide to ckd-assemble say the all-new 2017/18 Wrangler and/or GCherokee (also for rhd re-export?) is a question.

Meanwhile, the task for them is really to establish the brand, the new dealerships (India is one of the last markets to get the new Jeep/combined-FCA dealerships, since Jeep was acquired by Fiat Group/FCA), and to prepare for the 'real affordable deal': the heavily localized c-suv/new Compass, also or even-mainly for rhd exports, for mid/late 2017.

Whether the whole JEEP (instead of Fiat, from now?) effort meets Indians' price-'value'-'status' CALCULUS, which can be strange and rather befuddling at times for some firms/brands not least Fiat, will be especially interesting to witness, given that JEEP is almost a common-noun in India even though the proper-noun (the actual brand) hasn't ever really been in India.

Meanwhile, it appears they've de-risked themselves by focussing as-much on exports (of the localized 2017 Compass, the b-suv that'll follow.....and a ckd model or two??)

[theredliner]

Sorry if this is already posted.

Looks like KHT Fiat Caffe in Bengaluru is getting converted into a multi brand Jeep/FIAT/Abarth showroom. It is under renovation and one of the employees told this.