Jeep launches the Compass for India

Jeep has finally launched one of their most exciting and highly anticipated products for the Indian market – The Compass. When unveiled in April 2017, the Compass held a lot of promise by being the most affordable Jeep product for the Indian market. The other Jeep products in India namely the Grand Cherokee & the Wrangler are both very good products and have been quite successful on the global stage too. However, when introduced in India last year did not take off as they were priced very high. Jeep has a lot riding on the success of the Compass to drive the strategy for the brand in India.

    The Indian market is very price sensitive many good cars have failed to make a mark on the market due to an incorrect pricing strategy. The good news is Jeep has hit the sweet spot with the pricing, beating the initial estimated price range of Rs.16-22 Lakh – the Jeep Compass begins at a great Rs.14.95 Lakh (Ex-Showroom) with the top end around Rs.20.69 Lakh. This smart, bold pricing puts the Compass against the likes of the Hyundai Creta, Hyundai Tucson, Renault Duster, Mahindra XUV 500 at the same time also undercuts larger SUVs the likes of the Tata Hexa, Ford Endeavour. The introduction of the Compass has opened the small SUV market, giving customers a premium and quality Jeep product. The design of the Compass resembles the Jeep Grand Cherokee, which is not a bad thing. With a bold stance, a go anywhere attitude and sharp character lines; the Compass is a smart and modern SUV. The LED projector headlamps, DRLs and a neat tail lamp cluster give the Compass a sophisticated appeal. On the inside, the Compass welcomes you with a very premium cabin. With a very good build, fit and finish making it a premium, safe, reliable place to be. The Compass comes with a host of safety features such as – ABS, EBD, Airbags, Hill Hold Assist etc. With all the bells and whistles you would need the Compass has you covered on the infotainment bit too! Coming with a 5-inch and 7-inch touch screen depending on the variant you choose. The Compass has 3 variants – Sport, Longitude, Limited having petrol and diesel engines. The engines of choice on the Compass are a 1.4 L Multiair petrol producing 160 bhp of peak power, a 2.0 L Multijet diesel engine producing 171 bhp of peak power. Both the engines have options of both manual and automatic transmissions. The Compass will also come with a 4X4 option along with the SelecTerrain 4 mode driving condition selections which allow the driver to navigate the car on – Auto, Snow, Sand and Mud. Hence, making the Compass a very capable car for off road adventures.

   With bookings having already amassed 5000 cars, the Jeep Compass is a Rockstar in the making and has everything to dominate the segment. This could very well be the product which makes Jeep a success in India!

Car Of The Week : Mazda MX-5

In today’s day and age, a good value for money, fun to drive, reasonable and practically made sports cars are a rarity. Finding a roadster which scores well on all the above-mentioned aspects is like finding a needle in a hay stack! Mazda seem to have just the car that fits the bill – Mazda MX-5. The MX-5 was launched in 1989, but the seeds for project development were sown in 1976. What began as a casual conversation between a journalist and the heads of R&D at Mazda, led to the creation of a brilliant Mazda roadster.

  The MX-5 has a conventional roadster body with sleek curves and is certainly a head turner while on the road. The MX-5 is based on the Jinba Ittai design language used by Mazda across all 4 generations of the MX-5. Jinba Ittai refers to ‘rider and horse as one body’ this simply means creating a compact car with great driving dynamics, at the same time also meeting global safety standards. The MX-5 is a rear-wheel drive, front engine roadster with the very crucial 50:50 front & rear weight distribution. This gives the MX-5 a very good balance and excellent driving dynamics. Mazda chose to go ahead with a wishbone or a multi-link suspension set up on all 4 wheels, hence giving the car superior grip and maximizing tire performance. The design of the first-generation MX-5 was highly inspired from the likes of the Lotus Elan. However, it has come a long way and now in its fourth generation looks stunning! The current generation Mazda MX-5 was launched in 2015, offered with 2 naturally aspirated direct injection petrol engines – 1.5 L & a 2.0 L producing 129 bhp & 158 bhp respectively. The car is offered both with a 6-speed manual as well as an automatic transmission. A manual transmission in today’s age? Vintage, isn’t it? Yes, driving the MX-5 in manual is just the thing dreams are made off! In a time when automatics are on the rise in cars across all segments, Mazda has made an awesome choice going ahead with the manual. The MX-5 is a car an auto enthusiast would cherish. With quick responsiveness, amazing ride and handling, power when you need it, and the manual transmission of course! Well the MX-5 is not as quick as the likes of the Porsche 911, but with a 0-100 km/h time of 5.8 seconds, it gets the job done impressively. The MX-5 is a 2-door coupe car which can seat only 2 occupants. In its latest avatar, the Mazda MX-5 RF comes with a retractable roof.

The MX-5 is one of the best and highest selling 2 door roadsters in history. It could well be classified as a more affordable alternative to the Porsche 911, with the MX-5 being priced at almost half! This truly is a legendary car, and one we certainly look forward to when Mazda enters India.