Jeep Compass

With this new compact SUV, FCA will hope its own (sales) compass finally swings north.

- Siddharth V Patankar

THE BRAND JEEP has for long stood for adventure, performance, exhilaration – and all of the offroad kind! Once a niche brand in the Chrysler family, it used to sell alongside the now defunct Eagle brand in showrooms mostly in the United States and a few other countries. But in the past decade Jeep has taken on a completely new role – that of volumes driver for the Fiat-Chrysler Group. And yes, that is largely due to the rise of the SUV’s popularity across segments and across markets. The Compass is a step towards really taking that volumes pursuit for FCA to a new level. The Compass is a compact SUV, and shares its platform with the Renegade, its even more compact sibling. That in turn is a shared platform with Fiat models like the 500x and 500L. But unlike all those cars, the Compass claims to be an agile urban warrior and a rustic workhorse rolled into one. And let me tell you, it is.

First off, let me just say I have always thought that Compass was a great name for an SUV! But this new generation Compass is a far cry from the first generation that was sold from around from 2006-2017, primarily in the US. And yes I know we in India do not have any connection to it, but it was a largely uninspiring product. The irony is that it sold well for Jeep. By comparison the new Compass is a much more agile, engaging, spirited and rather fun car. It’s also surprisingly nimble and very capable off-road. Read on to know more.