Looking at the poor economic growth in India and the decreasing demand for cars, the re-launch of Jeep has been delayed. It was known that the company was preparing to launch a total of three new models in the Indian market, but looking at the economic scenario, the company’s plans have been delayed. The car is now not even expected after the Auto Expo which will be held in February.
Many of the executives of Fiat India have said that though Jeep is quite committed to enter the Indian market, it will only enter once the situation prevailing in the market has improved.
This slow approach of the company is very much justifiable. Jeep has a number of semi-compact and compact SUVs, which are locally assembled, from which they have a lot of expectations and they do not want to take chances in such a market situation. Jeep will be pricing a couple of its cars like Wrangler off-roader and the Grand Cherokee SUV aggressively in order to compete with the other cars that already exist in the market like the Audi, BMW, Land Rover and Mercedes Benz.
The depreciation of Indian rupee against dollar is making it even more difficult for the company to price its cars in the Indian market. While Jeep is keen on entering the market, the Mahindra Association is acting like a deterrent for the company.
