Pune: Fiat Chrysler India today rolled out its first locally manufactured Jeep Compass SUV at its Ranjangaon facility here.
India thus joins China, Mexico and Brazil as a manufacturing and export hub for the Jeep Compass.
"The Compass will be the first Made-in-India Jeep vehicle. The establishment of manufacturing operations and start of production of Jeep Compass is an important milestone for our journey in India," said Paul Alcala, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) chief operating officer for the Asia Pacific region.
Fiat Chrysler India has invested USD 280 million in the Ranjangaon plant. Alcala said the start of production and the investment of USD 280 million in Jeep Compass localization is a reaffirmation of Fiat Chrysler India’s commitment to Indian consumers.
The Jeep Compass will achieve full production in July. Vehicles are expected to hit the market during the third quarter of the year in three variants: Sport, Longitude and Limited. Exports will commence in the last quarter of calendar year 2017.
By 2017-end, the Jeep brand portfolio in India will consist of three new models: Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Grand Cherooke, besides Jeep Compass.
FCA India Automobiles Pvt Ltd is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Italian-American auto maker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
The Compass is the first model from the Jeep range to be produced in India. Fiat Chrysler had launched the Jeep brand in India in August last year with its completely built units (CBUs).
The Ranjangaom manufacturing facility, a 50:50 joint venture between FCA and Tata Motors, has a capacity to produce 1.6 lakh units and 3.5 lakh engines.
The Indian plant is the only one among the four global manufacturing units of FCA that will roll out right hand drive models.
In 2014, FCA had announced plans to launch 12 models in India in five years and start producing models from the Jeep brand in the country by 2015. However, it later revised the plan.