[SnS_12]

So as per Overdrive's article, Jeep India is developing SUVs in the Rs 10-Rs 20 lakh bracket.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) India has confirmed that Jeep India is developing two new SUVs that will be heavily localised. This will let it position the new models in the Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh bracket, which it expects, would help it gain market share in the country.

The Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, Grand Cherokee and the Grand Cherokee SRT were launched yesterday in India, with prices starting from Rs 71.59 lakh (ex-Delhi). These SUVs are being imported into the country via the CBU route, which explains the steep pricing. The plan, however, is to launch the premium Jeep products in the market, to build an image, and then roll out the locally developed Jeeps to drive volumes.

Article: http://overdrive.in/news/confirmed-j...-lakh-bracket/

Now, this strategy makes sense, with the exorbitant pricing of the Wrangler and Cherokee

@ shankar.balan. Sir, you were right when you made the below comment on the following thread : http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...g-india-8.html

I really honestly cannot even begin to understand how they can even contemplate such pricing in India.

Unless they have a cunning plan to introduce the Renegade in some really cheap third class specification/ trim level and then make the Renegade into a real mass product by fully indigenising it and making it in India and then making it available at a real low price. (At least it will feel like a low price in comparison!)

This would mean that Jeep is then trying to take on the Koreans and Japanese at their own game, all the while relying on the so called Premium Cues that they have tried to establish, by outpricing the Wrangler and Cherokee etc.

Jeep strategy smacks of Renault's strategy in some sense - the way they launched in India with the Koleos which never sold much.
And then the Fluence which is inherently a good product but didn't really set any charts afire.
And beautifully paved the way for their Duster and Pulse and Scala and all the mass products.
"Create some kind of a Premium Image first" then follow it up with a bunch of affordable mass market products which will guarantee volumes and thus, help bolster the brand's relevance.

I would love to buy either the Jeep Renegade or the Jeep Patriot. If they bring a Renegade in at 25-30 lacs-ish (on Road) in its top spec and if they bring in the Patriot at say 15-20 lacs range (on Road) for its top spec, these would make a very decent value proposition.

[cbatrody]

Originally Posted by wrongturn

That translates to INR 2370691 for Cherokee! M I missing something or is this right? Can't we just import one from UAE then any still have a better deal even after paying customs?
Wrangler sport manual: INR 1731937
Wrangler sport automatic: INR 2005789

Yes, the number is correct (AED 129,000) but that is for an entry level 3.6 L V6 Laredo (Petrol) with bare minimum specs. I guess it will be cheaper if you import it from here (UAE) even after paying customs as you mentioned, provided you are Ok driving an LHD car on the left side of the road.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by vb-san

Nice review Akshay!

You summed it up nicely – utilitarian luxury SUV; 50% of the current price would have been the ideal max range for this brand. When I compare this with the recent big-money launch (the Mustang), these guys made Ford’s pricing look brilliant.

Thank you. Not even 50% of this, even at 65 lacs I could have understood, maybe even 70. And at those prices it would still sell a couple of vehicles.

Yes compared to this the Mustang looks like a steal.

Originally Posted by vinit.merchant

Looking at the first few pictures of the interiors and the types of plastics and buttons used reminded me of cars from the 90's. Especially the button on the rear AC vents.

And that steering wheel is more of a keyboard than a steering, seriously. Should I steer the car or be worried about pressing buttons by mistake.

And then I scrolled back and re-read the prices.

Most buttons are fine. Its the plastics which are very disappointing. Some seemed similar to the Punto I used to own earlier (no jokes) while most were acceptable but not comparable to the Germans.

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Did I miss this or is this a work in progress report? I did like the gear lever.

Curious to know if all the low rent plastics are seen on the car sold in the USA or is this FCA's idea of a India special. While on the subject of rubbish plastics, you'll seem some on a Maserati too.

You caught me there, I forgot to add my paragraph on the gear lever. I was going to speak about Anton Yelchins death, and how after using this gear lever in the Jeep that seemed very possible. The gear lever has no feedback, and I'm used to using electronic gear levers but this was left me confused at most times and I had to look a second time to figure what gear we were in.

As for the plastics, I think they are the same in the US and everywhere else. The only India special we have got is the pricing, which I still can't digest!

Originally Posted by mijnoirhammer67

On a serious note, there was this actor named Anton Yelchin, he was around 26/27 years old. Good chap, made some pretty decent movies. He died recently, bout a month or more ago and may he RIP, because of a transmission failure from his car. Now guess which car?

Ding ding we have a winner, the Grand Cherokee. Apparently it was parked in neutral, he was in his own driveway when he got out to open the house gate and the car drove over him. His parents have filed a lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler on account of wrongful death.
The details about this accident are highly sketchy, but this car has been known for some gearbox and transmission failures in the past and present. Go figure eh?

Edit: Added Link
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...0-seconds.html

You know when I read about his death, I was a bit skeptical about the cause, how people were saying its because of the gear lever design.

After using this, I found myself getting confused and even I did leave it in D or R instead of N sometimes. I would think someone who uses it more often will pay even less attention to this, and possible make more mistakes.

Originally Posted by Axe77

Akshay - super review mate. I was really looking forward to see what Jeep brings to the table but like everyone has mentioned before, at these prices, its never really going to move any meaningful units, if any at all.

Trust me, it will not move any units. Only the SRT will sell a few units. While the diesels are about 35l too expensive, the SRT is only about 10-15l above what it should have been priced at. Its also cheaper than the X5M and ML63.

If anyone wants a Grand Cherokee, its only the SRT which makes sense with the added features such as air suspension and the 19 speaker hardmon kardon system, apart from the big block V8 of course.

Originally Posted by deepaktpatil

Grand Cherokee almost toppled itself in this test and busted its tires. Its a rare phenomenon for a vehicle to exhibit such a dangerous behavior. The video says that it happened with Grand Cherokee after Mercedes A Class overturned during this test in 1997.

Below is the video. Hopefully they have this problem addressed in the model they have released in India.

I believe some changes were made, and it was since passed the moose test with flying colours. When I drove it, I did not find the handling to be scary at all. It was nowhere close to my X3, but yes it did inspire confidence at highway speeds with quick lane changes, etc.

Originally Posted by nishsingh

Given Anton Yelchin's death, I am a little concerned looking at the lever pics. Do I see a faint blue glow indicating the position of the lever? Is that the only indication?

Also, given that Grand Cherokees were recalled "to update the transmission software and include more visual warnings and chimes that the vehicles are not in park", in your test drive, could you easily tell which position the lever was in ?

Anyway, given the epic pricing, this is bound to go only one way. And this is what I can say to Jeep's management -

Yes only that blue glow, and there is even an indication on the instrument cluster. In fact if I'm not wrong, even if not in P when the drivers door was opened there was no audible warning (I may be mistaken here) which most other cars definitely give you.

I also believe some vehicles gear shifts were changed to conventional mechanical shifters from the silly confusing electronic one.

Originally Posted by tbppjpr

And what an awkward position for that lever in the footwell, is that for parking brake release? Isn't that a flaw from safety point of view?

After thinking for one more time, I feel thats a serious flaw. Suppose the vehicle is parked at a hill descend and driver is waiting for someone while talking to rear seat occupant. Suddenly foot touches the release lever, car starts rolling down and bangs onto the car parked next, or maybe more serious than that.

So much mess-ups for this wannabe Maybach of SUVs!

That is the parking brake, not just the release. You apply it by pressing down on it, and then press it once again and it pops up and releases. Not easy to release it by mistake.

The placement was a little off, I found my shin hitting it, but other than that its pretty run of the mill. I would have expected a powered parking brake in this vehicle.

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

Jeep India has imported petrol versions of the Wrangler Unlimited and the Grand Cherokee for homologation, indicating a possible launch in the near future.

Both cars are equipped with 3.6L, 3600cc, V6 petrol units.

But what is the point? I hope they don't launch, because those petrols will be totally boring to drive. They are neither here nor there, and with Jeeps great pricing I don't think they should launch anything else.

Originally Posted by The Brutailer

3. Features
- Do we really need ventilated seats in India?

Yes, yes and a big YES! Thats my opinion though. For me it can be a deal making feature for a vehicle. And its one of the features which you may not find useful, until you have it after which you will love it.

Originally Posted by GTO

Land Rover keeps it classy

Attachment 1549094
Source

Aah Land Rover, the other brand which till now have been one of the pioneers of over pricing their products, though not to the extend of Jeep. And Land Rover has a higher brand recognition and more snob value, so they have been able to get away with it to some extent.

[teemus]

Originally Posted by Satdeep

As far as I understand, this lot has been imported from Japan. India has a Free Trade Agreement with Japan. A single container load from Tokyo to Mumbai should not cost more than USD2000, all charges included.

On a different note, I feel the pricing of these offerings by Jeep hold little real world value. Especially when one compares the specifications with other marquees. Forgoing the meri-mehengi-gaadi factor, I do not see Jeep bringing much to the table even at 70 lakh OTR after drastic price cuts for the remaining stragglers. That is if they do decide to import some numbers.

But isn't the country of origin mentioned as US or am I missing something here. Moreover, IIRC Wrangler is ONLY manufactured in US and nowhere else.

[Travelator]

Originally Posted by GTO

Great review, Akshay & Omkar! Thanks for sharing guys. Rating 5 stars.
Instead of one Grand Cherokee, I could buy a Mercedes GLE + Ford Endeavour + Toyota Fortuner.

Seriously dimwit pricing. The worst I've seen in recent times.

Attachment 1548629
Pic Source

Bwhhahaha. That really nails it. It appears FCA-India representatives have locked themselves up in a secluded room in some remote vacation island some 300 kms off the coast of India. They have consistently lacked vision, strategy, understanding of the market and probably everything else required to establish a brand.

With such pricing I doubt if their dealers would even want to stock up in the first place.

RIP JEEP

[venom_op]

Originally Posted by GTO

I spent a full day with the Grand Cherokee. It's a good SUV, but in the league of the Ford Endeavour 3.2. In fact, the Endeavour 3.2 matches or beats it in every possible area. Instead of one Grand Cherokee, I could buy a Mercedes GLE + Ford Endeavour + Toyota Fortuner.

Seriously dimwit pricing. The worst I've seen in recent times.

Attachment 1548629
Pic Source

Or an Indian overpriced Mustang AND an Endeavour!

Okay. Another thing i just noticed, is that you guys are talking about the prices of these vehicles in the US. Please remember that these are the final buying prices for consumers in the US. So all the taxes and registration and duties that are to be paid are included in said price.

After this consideration, the prices seem even more absurd!

[The Brutailer]

Originally Posted by Akshay1234

Yes, yes and a big YES! Thats my opinion though. For me it can be a deal making feature for a vehicle. And its one of the features which you may not find useful, until you have it after which you will love it.

Like you mentioned in the review, cooled ventilated seats are only in the front. What exactly is the use of heated seats at the rear in a tropical climate of India?

And yeah, i haven't experienced it but i still think it's an unnecessary feature to have. But, for a 1 crore car it makes sense. Then again, my point was against the price. They could've cut these features and bought down the cost to a sensible price.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by The Brutailer

Like you mentioned in the review, cooled ventilated seats are only in the front. What exactly is the use of heated seats at the rear in a tropical climate of India?

And yeah, i haven't experienced it but i still think it's an unnecessary feature to have. But, for a 1 crore car it makes sense. Then again, my point was against the price. They could've cut these features and bought down the cost to a sensible price.

Normally ventilated seats are paired with heated seats. Some vehicles offer ventilated seats in the rear too. But seldom do you get the ventilation option without heating. Heated seats can be nice once in a while on a cool winter night if you are driving with the windows down, otherwise in Mumbai they are of no use. Though I suspect in the North people who have them must be very pleased.

Cutting features and reducing the cost? How much would it have come down? Its so far overpriced that even removing features and lowering the cost would still make the pricing absurd. Also the customer buying a 1cr vehicle has some expectations in terms of features.

[Catamaran]

Originally Posted by cbatrody

Yes, the number is correct (AED 129,000) but that is for an entry level 3.6 L V6 Laredo (Petrol) with bare minimum specs. I guess it will be cheaper if you import it from here (UAE) even after paying customs as you mentioned, provided you are Ok driving an LHD car on the left side of the road.

It is not bare minimum specs for the laredo. Please see spec sheet for the 3.6 laredo sold in UAE. I would say it is decently equipped except for say leather seats...

[cbatrody]

Originally Posted by Catamaran

It is not bare minimum specs for the laredo. Please see spec sheet for the 3.6 laredo sold in UAE. I would say it is decently equipped except for say leather seats...Attachment 1549442

What I meant by bare minimum was 'least specs of the available lot'. If you compare the "3.6 L Laredo" with "3.6 L Limited Plus" (both same size engines) the following are missing in Laredo:

• Panoramic Sun Roof
• Blue Ray compatible dual screen video
• Rear seat video
• GPS
• Rear view camera
• Leather Seats
• 9 amplified speakers with S/W (wherein Laredo has only 6 speakers without the S/W)

[earthian]

Originally Posted by cbatrody

... the following are missing in Laredo:

• Panoramic Sun Roof
• Blue Ray compatible dual screen video
• Rear seat video
• GPS
• Rear view camera
• Leather Seats
• 9 amplified speakers with S/W (wherein Laredo has only 6 speakers without the S/W)

If the price is around Rs 50 lacs without the above, i could live with that. Or without that!

[shankar.balan]

OK

I hope this post doesn't get deleted because it is off topic.
But I just absolutely had to do this on Carwale and Share it here.

Just a simple Comparison Chart (pictorial screenshots) (courtesy Carwale) across Parameters pertaining to the following vehicles:

1. Gypsy,
2. Thar,
3. Wrangler Unlimited,
4. Skoda Yeti.

[Waspune]

Originally Posted by smartcat

In Europe, what does the Grand Cherokee compete with on price? ML/Q5/X5 ?

Grand Cherokee competes with JLR/Land Cruiser/Prado bro. Q5/X5 arent true off-roaders, specially when you get JEEP/JLR/Toyota Land Cruiser/Prado into picture. You would like to go through the following:

http://auto.ndtv.com/news/this-is-ho...-india-1452614

These are true off-roaders. Look at their ranking for 2016:
http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com...Off-Road-SUVs/

[ajmat]

Team-BHP had attended the launch event in Jodhpur. While most of the event has been covered in the thread as well as the sticker shock, let me embellish this with details of the launch event and a quick pictorial of the SRT and Wrangler.

To match the forthcoming stratospheric price announcement of the Jeep Range, the launch event was held in Jodhpur amidst the regal settings of the Jodhpur Polo Ground and also at the Umaid Bhavan. His Highness Gaj Singh II was present at both events.

Traditionally, Land Rovers have been heavily associated with the British Royal Family. Her Majesty personally drives one even today. Even His Highness Gaj Singh drove up in a Land Rover Discovery 3!

The spin for the event was that Indian Royalty were fond of Jeeps and used them extensively. Team-BHP, being the font of knowledge begs to differ and we find that most of the time Jeeps were probably integral for household duties whereas Indian Royalty preferred modified Rolls Royces or similar luxury cars. If one googles - Maharaja + Jeep, not too much comes up!

Anyway, lets enjoy the regal proceedings

We first arrived at the Jodhpur Polo Grounds for an exhibition Polo match.

It began with a parade




Lead Jeep with Mr Kevin Flynn - MD FCA MD Marketing and his Highness Maharaja Gaj Singh II




Second Jeep with Prince Abhimanyu Singh Alsisar (more on him later)








The modern Jeeps make their appearance



The Wrangler - I really like this Jeep








The SRT makes its appearance





It drags races with a horse. Lovely engine note but the driver was not flooring it. Wet grass and limited space meant a possible airbag explosion but it did outrun the horse

Let the game begin

[ajmat]

Later that evening, we were hosted in the grounds of the Umaid Bhavan.





Kevin and Abhimanyu hosted a nice discussion on Jeeps. Abhimanyu owns 6 old Jeeps. Two of them are US surplus jeeps which were driven down from Burma by his father. He keeps them in his various resorts and uses them daily.



Jeep had their range also on display





Another oldie came for dinner