Jeep Compass sales in India have been on a decline in the past few months. From averaging 2,500 units every month last year, the sales for last 3 months have gone down to about 1,400 units – while July 2018 sales at just 1,201 units.
To give Jeep Compass much needed boost in sales, the company will launch a series of new variants. First will come in the form of Limited Plus trim. This is going to sit above the current Limited (O) trim which is priced at Rs 20.2 lakhs for diesel Manual and Rs 20.54 lakhs for petrol AT.
One of the most important feature update is the addition of sunroof. Dealers found difficult to convince buyers who complained why more expensive and luxurious Jeep Compass did not offer sunroof, when smaller and more affordable cars like Hyundai Creta and Mahindra XUV500 were offering sunroof. The result, some buyers decided not to buy the Compass because it did not have sunroof.
Hyundai and Mahindra, both did not offer sunroof on their respective SUVs above. But, both of them started offering sunroof with the launch of updated 2018 variants. This resulted in a sales boost for both the companies. Hyundai saw an increase in Creta sales, while Mahindra saw increase in XUV500 sales.
With sunroof option now coming to Jeep Compass, the company can hope to increase sales during this Diwali festive period. In addition to sunroof, the Compass Limited Plus variant will also get a larger 8.4 inch touchscreen infotainment system, 18 inch dual tone alloys and power adjustable front driver and passenger seats. It also gets dual front and side curtain airbags as standard along with rain-sensing wipers.
Powering the new Jeep Compass Limited Plus variant will be the same diesel 2.0 liter engine delivering 171 PS and 350 Nm via 6 speed manual transmission. It will also get a petrol 1.4 liter engine delivering 160 PS and 250 Nm via 7 speed automatic gearbox.
2018 Compass Limited Plus trim will sit above the Limited (O) trim, which is the top-spec trim as of now. Expect prices to be about Rs 1.5 lakhs higher than the respective Limited (O) trim. This means, Jeep Compass Limited Plus petrol price expected is Rs 22 lakhs, and that of diesel is Rs 21.5 lakhs for 4×2 MT variant and Rs 23.5 lakhs for 4×4 variant. All prices ex-sh, Delhi.