Fiat India to make a 15-lakh SUV

Fiat Chrysler is planning to make India a hub for an affordable, right-hand drive SUV, under the Jeep brand.

The company has already announced to invest $280 million in the country in its manufacturing joint venture with Tata Motors, at Ranjangaon, near Pune,  for the production of Jeep model.

The new ‘C-SUV’, as Fiat call it, will be manufactured in 2017. This SUV will most likely be a new vehicle, which is slated to start production in Brazil in 2016, codenamed 551. The Jeep 551 shares much of its mechanical structure including suspension systems with the Jeep Renegade, but is expected to be longer than the Renegade. Engine options include a 2.0-litre petrol motor with 156bhp and a similar capacity Multijet II diesel motor, yielding 170bhp. The engine specifications for India are yet not known. The SUV will also come in a 4X4 version. We have earlier shared pictures of a production ready body of the SUV which was spied in Brazil. The global SUV will be unveiled in India itself and this will happen around the end of 2016 or early 2017.

To start with, the  C-SUV will be exported to South Africa, Britain, Australia and some of the south-east Asian countries and will scale up gradually. Fiat has already started work on an exclusive dealer network for Jeep in five pilot cities. The company is also identifying suppliers and key component vendors for sourcing the parts for the new product. It will start by selling the Jeep Cherokee and Jeep Wrangler, both of which will be imported as CBUs (completely built units). The operations will commence in 2016 and the the vehicles will also be showcased at the Auto Expo in early 2016.

The Jeep brand  is considered as one of the originators of the SUV and is famous world over for its rugged and all-terrain vehicles.

It has been a cult since many decades and represents tough, robust, go-anywhere machines. Indian customers will soon get an opportunity to own this brand and the local manufacturing will make it affordable too. The C-SUV from Jeep is expected to be priced around INR 15 lakhs and will compete with SUVs like Renault Duster, Hyundai Creta, Mahindra XUV500 and also the upcoming Toyota Rush.