Upbeat about future, Jeep India to launch new line-up in 2022

Jeep India, which posted a robust 130 per cent volume growth last year despite a bumpy ride due to the pandemic, is positive about the outlook for the domestic automobile industry and is set to launch new products this year.

Besides, it anticipates the market to grow further notwithstanding concerns over the impact of the Omicron variant, Jeep India Head Nipun Mahajan. Driven by the facelift version of SUV Compass in February 2021 and the locally-assembled Wrangler, Jeep India sold 12,136 units in 2021 as compared to 5,282 units in 2020. This reflects a 130 per cent growth in its vehicle sales.

Jeep is a part of the portfolio of brands offered by leading automaker and mobility provider Stellantis. Currently, Jeep brand has two products in its India portfolio - Compass and Wrangler. While it has been producing Compass at the Ranjangaon facility near Pune since June 2017, the company started local-assembling of Wrangler from mid-March last year from the same facility. “We are pretty positive on the outlook because of the market resilience. In the last 4-6 years, the market has gone through many ups and downs, adjusting to various factors but the bounce back is pretty good,” Mahajan said.

Noting that 2021 itself had a 20 per cent growth across segments over 2020, he said “market will grow (further). We will have some disturbances as we are starting with Omicron, but despite that, the consumer has the capability and requirement to grow automotive industry. That will help the market to grow over 2021”.

Last year was good for the brand in India with sales spiking a massive 130 pc at over 12,000 units compared to year earlier. “There were COVID implications on the business when the year began but I think we all recovered very well. Jeep India also saw a 20 per cent increase in volume in 2021 over 2019, which was the pre-pandemic period,” Mahajan said. “2022 is going to be a big year for us when we will be launching two new products, starting with Compass Trailhawk in February this year,” he added.