Jeep Compass BEATS both Mahindra XUV500 & Tata Hexa

The Jeep Compass is going great guns for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) in India. The 5 seat SUV has once again outsold established competition – the Mahindra XUV500 and the Tata Hexa. It is now the top-selling premium SUV in the 15-25 lakh rupee price range. The Hyundai Tucson is no competition for the Compass.

In December 2017, FCA sold 2,750 units of the Compass while Mahindra sold 1,419 units of the XUV500, and Tata did 1,219 unit sales. The Tucson did only 156 units, which is just about 5 % of the Compass’ sales. This is the second straight month that the Compass has outsold both the XUV500 and the Hexa, and by such a big margin.

The Compass saw a safety recall for a faulty passenger airbag but apart from this blip, it has been smooth sailing for Jeep’s best selling SUV in India. Apart from catering to the Indian market, Jeep also sells the India-made Compass in many right hand drive markets such as the UK, Australia, Japan and Thailand.

The Compass sold in the Indian market is available with two engine options – a 1.4 liter turbocharged petrol with 160 Bhp and 250 Nm, and a 2.0 liter turbocharged diesel with 170 Bhp and 350 Nm. Both engines get 6 speed manual gearboxes as standard. The petrol engine also gets a 7 speed twin clutch automatic option.

Jeep sells the Compass in India with a front wheel drive layout as standard, and the top-end diesel variant gets a 4X4 option. Next year, Jeep has plans of introducing a 9 speed automatic gearbox on the Compass Diesel. The new variant is expected to be a segment leader in terms of performance.

Mahindra is preparing a facelifted version of the XUV500 to win back some market from the Compass. The Indian automaker has already introduced a turbocharged petrol automatic version last month. The facelift is expected to feature a more powerful tune of the 2.2 liter mHawk diesel engine – 170 Bhp and 400 Nm. But will it be enough to grab back marketshare from the Compass? We’ll know later this year.

Render courtesy IAB