The new Jeep K8 images have been leaked before its official unveil on 19th of April in China have been leaked. This is an all new compact SUV, which we reckon could even make it into India. Jeep has been working on two SUVs for India, one is the Compass, which will be unveiled on 12th April and the second one shall be a compact one. The second one is codenamed as 526 as per multiple reports and shall be launched in India as well. This will be manufactured in India and exported to other markets. From what we understand, both the Jeep 526 and K8 should be the same.
As this will be a Jeep model, it could be priced a bit more than the competition. It has been benchmarked against bigger SUVs and we expect the pricing to be around INR 9 lakhs to INR 13 lakhs (on-road). This will be a B-segment SUV for the Indian car market. This will be a compact SUV, which is one of the fastest growing segments in India.
There has been no official statement on this SUV’s launch date, however we expect it to be launched in India by early 2018. First the Jeep 551 (Jeep Compass) will be launched, which will be followed by the Jeep 526. The new Compass will be making its way into India by mid 2017. This will be manufactured in India and it will be exported to other countries. The 526 will be a smaller SUV so more work has to be done on to maintain its pricing.
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In terms of features, this SUV will be loaded. It will be a more upmarket SUV and it will cater to what you pay. Not just brand image, but even the features it shall offer. This will be a five-seater SUV and Jeep is keen to enhance its market share with this new SUV. As per the details, the company will be looking at adding a lot of features to add on to the brand value of Jeep. The American brand has been famous in India as it was sold still 1950s under the Mahindra brand.
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The new Jeep 526 will come with a 1.4-litre T-JET petrol engine and the diesel will be the new 1.5-litre multijet. This will be used on the 526 and a new upcoming Fiat sedan as well. The 2.0-litre multijet production is already on a trial run and soon we will see the 1.5-litre diesel also soon. Our sources confirm that the new 1.5-litre diesel is under its final stage of testing. The decision to manufacture this engine hasn’t been confirmed. If this engine doesn’t make it, then the 90bhp 1.3-litre multijet will be powering the Jeep 526. The 1.4-litre T-JET is already made in India.
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Jeep brand’s 526 shall be competing with the Ford Ecosport, Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, Mahindra TUV300 and the Mahindra Nuvosport. There will be more new SUVs in this segment like the Tata Nexon and the Hyundai Carlino.
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