Jeep Compass

The American entry level SUV, the Jeep Compass was launched in India by the end of July 2017. However, the Americans have managed to price it just about right to endanger the other D-segment cars.

The Compass has been designed to look like a baby Grand Cherokee with influences from the Jeep Renegade. It gets the typical vertically slatted wide grille, the high mounted headlamps and the macho front bumper with the blacked out bash plate. The side profile gets a prominent shoulder line, squared wheel arches and a thick D-pillar to complete the twin-cab five seater SUV look. The clear lens tail lamps in the back look sporty complementing the decked up tailgate and large bumper.

Uconnect infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and a dual-zone automatic temperature control take the centre stage on the dashboard. Seats are wrapped in Ski grey leather upholstery and the car has an electronic parking brake. As for the safety, the Jeep Compass gets dual-front airbags as standard along with ABS and EBD. The higher-spec trims might get more airbags and the automatic version gets ESP. Apart from the standard driving mode the Compass has three other driving modes to tackle different terrains – mud, sand and snow.

While the Compass is set to get about 17 powertrain options globally, for India we have the 170bhp 2.0-litre Multijet II engine from Fiat to power the Jeep. It also has a petrol engine option – the 1.4-litre T-Jet engine from Fiat that develops over 160bhp of power. The top trim petrol engine comes mated to a seven-speed automatic gearbox. However, other trims in petrol and diesel variants are offered with a six speed manual transmission. The manufacturer offers four-wheel drive power train in the top spec of the SUV, that too only in the diesel variant.

It competes against the Hyundai Tucson, the Honda CR-V and the Skoda Yeti amongst the five-seater premium SUVs. Also, the lower trims rival against the Hyundai Creta, Renault Duster and the Nissan Terrano.