India-made Jeep Compass scores 5 stars in A-NCAP crash test

The Indian-made Jeep Compass has scored a perfect five in the Australian NCAP crash test. Jeep has begun exporting the Compass SUV to Australia and Japan, two right-hand drive markets. The right-hand drive version of the Compass is built at Fiat’s Ranjangaon factory near Pune. The vehicle is also sold in the Indian market.

Soon, Jeep will introduce this SUV in the UK market as well. Coming to the crash test, it is not without controversy though. The A-NCAP crash test will move to higher European standards from January 1st, 2018. The test that the Compass faced was under the older standards that did not required two new safety features: automatic emergency braking and lane departure warning. However, the structure of the Compass will not be affected by these electronic safety aids.

The Compass sold in Australia is available in multiple variants – with both petrol and turbo diesel engines. The naturally aspirated petrol engine is a four cylinder unit displacing 2.4 liters. It produces 173 Bhp of peak power and 229 Nm of peak torque.

A front wheel drive layout is standard with the petrol engine, which gets 6 speed manual and automatic gearbox options. The diesel engine is 2 liter unit with 170 Bhp-350 Nm on tap. A 9 speed automatic gearbox is standard, and the diesel engine gets a four wheel drive layout.

In terms of safety features, the Compass sold in Australia gets ABS, EBD, 7 airbags, cruise control, traction control, electronic stability program, hill-hold, hill descent control, reverse parking camera and tyre pressure monitoring system as standard. In future, Jeep is expected to add lane departure warning and automatic emergency braking to make the Compass ready for the new A-NCAP crash test norms that will come into place from early next year.