Jeep investing on retail presence in India
Jeep investing on retail presence in India

Recently this week Jeep announced the prices of its Compass SUV sports, longitude and limited edition for the Indian market starting from Rs 14,95,000.

The company will be showcasing the model across its 50 FCA Jeep dealership centers including 10 Jeep Destination centers across 47 cities in the country.

It is also planning to take the count of the dealership centers to around 60 in the company six months. While having big aspirations for Jeep presence in India the company is significantly investing on its dealership centers.

Also to enhance Jeep Compass production, sell in India and export the company has invested heavily on its Ranjangaon, Pune facility. Thus, talking about future retail strategies Kevin Flynn, President and Managing Director, FCA India spoke to Indianretailer.com.

What led you to price Jeep Compass more competitive?

I think Indian market is very price sensitive and we have just repositioned our Completely Built Unit (CBU) product which was a sort of top end imported product when launched and it attracted significant duties to be sold here. After GST in place we have taken a relook at the prices and managed to reposition them. This whole project of Compass launch is the locally manufactured car so the price is more competitive with a great packet as well.

In India at Ranjangaon, Pune we have a fourth largest manufacturing plant with we will sell Compass in India, take Compass on a global level and exporting as well. The way India is developing as SUV market then I think the timing is really good to be here with price competitive product.

What is unique with the model?   

It is the most affordable yet with more than 50 safety and security features Jeep Compass in India. It has 30+ premium features and 20+ pioneering technologies. Its diesel model offered with 6-speed manual transmission and Petrol with 6-speed manual as well as a 7-speed automatic transmission. The model is made of 65 percent locally sourced components.

I think what we are doing different than anybody else is bringing an absolute authentic SUV Jeep Compass in India. Because in essence we have created SUV segment which hails back to 40s during which Jeep was very much available in the market and people had huge affection. We are very serious about Indian market, serious about Make in India programme and serious about our aspirations as well.

What is the retail presence of Jeep products in India?

We are kicking off with 50 sales outlets and 10 of those are Fiat Chrysler Automobile (FCA) Jeep flagship Destination Stores across 47 cities in the country. These centers in total cover about 90 percent of our target segment. But this is going to grow, we envisage that within six months it will be sixty centers and then we will see how things develop. We already have interested parties indeed to go beyond that, but key thing for us is also the profitability, viability and customer care serviceability of these dealership centers.

The Dealership Centers investment programme that we are putting in place is to make sure that we would convert those dealers with our quality and standards.

Do these Destination centers co-exist with workshops?

Yes we have 48 workshops. All the workshops have been embraced by the More Power which is predominantly North -American customer care brand. We have taken a lot of the lessons from them and really worked on it. We wanted a situation where every Jeep customer can feel confident about the level of customer care service that we are providing. The after sales service also has got a full upgrade.

Will these Destination centers also showcase Wrangler and Grand Cherokee models of Jeep?

In the Destination stores we will have CBU and the locally manufactured models and then rest FCA stores will be showcasing Compass along with other Fiat models.

What are your strategies of increasing the market share in India?

There is no matter of increasing the market share because at the moment the car is going to the market. We have got big aspirations for Jeep presence in India and we know where we want to be. I think the car is very competitively priced but I think the completeness of the package is what going to be really appealing with the competence of the product.

What is the investment that you have put in for Ranjangaon, Pune facility?

We have invested around $280 mn in Ranjangaon, Pune manufacturing facility. The plant has an annual capacity 1,60,000 units.

Stay on top – Get the daily news from Indian Retailer in your inbox
Also Worth Reading