Following initial success with Jeep Compass sales, the company has been struggling to keep pace with the early days. January 2019 sales are down 40 percent at 1,267 units, down from 2,106 units sold in Jan ’18.
The automaker has been introducing Jeep Compass variants in a timely manner, and has been hinting at Compass Trailhawk since 2018. It’s taken longer than first anticipated as Jeep Compass Trailhawk fits a BSVI complaint engine under its hood. The test vehicle that’s been doing the rounds in recent weeks isn’t heavily camouflaged and wears a prominent black bit on the bonnet, which is a black painted anti-glare bonnet decal. The latest spy shots are credit to automotive enthusiast Sarthak Shewale, who shared them on Rushlane Spylane Facebook Group.
On the Trailhawk, off-roading capability improvement is facilitated with Jeep’s active drive low-range 4WD system, and Rock Mode in its Selec-Drive system. Compass Trailhawk has 20mm more ground clearance than other Compass variants.
Rock mode is in addition to the Auto, Snow, Sand and Mud mode seen in the regular 4×4 model. Jeep Compass Trailhawk is already manufactured at the company’s Pune plant, and is being exported to select overseas markets. The export model gets power from a 2.4-litre Tigershark MultiAir 2 petrol engine mated to 9-speed automatic transmission and returns 180 hp.
In the domestic market, Jeep Compass Trailhawk will be introduced as a top trim. The silver-black dual tone alloys are unique to the model. The vehicle wears underbody skid plates, comes with all weather floor mats, and as can be seen in the test vehicle, is fitted with Signature Ruby Red tow hooks. On the inside, the instrument console features a red accents. The test vehicle in white exterior paint didn’t have a blacked out roof.
2019 Jeep Comapss Trailhawk is expected to get power from the 2.0-litre Multijet diesel engine that returns max power of 171bhp @ 3,750rpm and 350Nm of torque @ 1,750 rpm. It will most likely get mated to 9-speed transmission, making this the only diesel-automatic Compass in India.
