Jeep Cars

Summary

The Jeep, as a brand, probably has one of the longest histories amongst manufacturers in the country. The Jeeps docked on Indian shores somewhere around World War II and since then have been an integral part of civilian and military mobility in the country. It was somewhere in the 90s when the Chrysler group, who owned the Jeep brand, objected on the usage of the brand Jeep by Mahindra – the first licenced manufacturers of the utility vehicle in the country. Nonetheless, just like a photocopy is better known as Xerox, the Jeep is instilled deep in our classification of the utility vehicles of its kind.

Indian Operations and Executive Managements

Jeep is a part of the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles conglomerate after it was taken over by Chrysler back in 1987. The American SUV manufacturer made their first attempt at entering India officially in early 2013. In 2016, Jeep showcased their India line-up at the Auto Expo held in Delhi and had also announced their plan to launch the grand Cherokee and the Wrangler.

Jeep has investing close to $280million to expand the existing Fiat facility in Ranjangaon, Maharashtra and from it now produces locally assembled versions of the Compass and Wrangler. The Cherokee in a new generation will join the ranks of local assembly in 2022.

Products & Services

The Indian car market gets the Compass SUV that has been developed for the local markets while in early 2021, Jeep started assembling the Wrangler for the Indian market. It is will in the future launch a locally assembled Wrangler, B-SUV as well as a three-row SUV that’s expected to be called the Commander.

Founder & First Car

The original Jeep was designed by Karl Probst for the American Bantam Company and refined by Willys-Overland and Ford for the American Military before it went into production as a reconnaissance vehicle for the World War II. After WWII, Willys built the first jeep for civilian usage calling it the CJ (civilian jeep) – the name that was used by Mahindra Jeeps in India till the nineties, the CJ500.

Competition

The Jeep, as we have said before, has taken the luxury route to India and will compete with the three Germans – Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz along with Land Rover and Toyota in the luxury SUV space. Jeep should benefit from its partner Fiat’s experience in the country to be able to provide a strong platform for the brand's success.