The Jeep Compass SUV is Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez’s latest ride

Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez’s latest ride is a Jeep Compass. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) India seems to have gifted the actress this car. The Italian-American car maker has just officially announced this on the Jeep India  Facebook page. In the pictures uploaded by Jeep India, Jacqueline Fernandez is seen posing outside and inside the Compass SUV.

Recently, Jeep India was in the news as Saif Ali Khan picked up a Grand Cherokee SRT, the fastest Jeep SUV that the automaker sells in India. Later, we figured out that the SUV was a kind of a gift from Jeep, in return for marketing promotion from the actor. The Compass that Jacqueline Fernandez is now seen with could be something similar.

It’s not uncommon for car makers, especially those in the luxury segments, to give away high-end cars to celebrities in exchange for brand promotion. We’ve seen this happen in the past with multiple Audis, Range Rovers and even Tatas and Toyotas.

Coming back to the Jeep Compass, it’s been the biggest success that FCA has seen in India, ever. The 5 seat SUV that rivals the Hyundai Creta and the Mahindra XUV500 in terms of pricing, has just outsold the XUV500 and Hexa for two consecutive months. This is a big deal considering how strong the XUV500 has been in the Indian market.

In India, the Compass is offered with 2 engines – a 1.4 liter turbo petrol making 160 Bhp-250 Nm, and a 2 liter Fiat Multijet turbo diesel with 170 Bhp-350 Nm on tap. The diesel engined Compass brings the lion’s share of sales while folks who want an automatic SUV are seen opting for the Compass Petrol.

The Compass Petrol gets 6 speed manual and 7 speed, twin clutch automatic gearbox options while the diesel model makes do with a 6 speed manual. Sometime next year, Jeep India is expected to offer a 9 speed automatic gearbox on the Compass Diesel as well. Fiat’s factory in Ranjangaon, off Pune, is a global production hub for the right-hand drive variants of the Compass. The SUV is exported to countries around the world such as the UK, Japan and Australia.