Jeep to enter India by 2015

The rugged Jeep Wrangler and premium SUV Cherokee will soon make its way to Indian roads. According to Mike Manley, President and CEO of Jeep, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will begin selling Jeep in India in 2015 as the SUV brand is looking for global expansion.

The company's original plan was to launch the Jeep brand in 2013, but due to poor economy and currency fluctuations, the automaker decided to postpone plans to launch Jeep in India. While now the automaker is looking forward to launch the Jeep brand by 2015. Manley commented, “I am completely confident for 2015,” Manley said today at Chrysler’s proving grounds in Chelsea.

It is certain that Jeep Grand Cherokee and Wrangler will be the first product offered in India. In order to establish a strong dealer network, the parent company FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) is looking to open 15 to 20 dealers in major cities. Though the auto sales for last couple of years in the Indian market were worse, however, it is expected that by 2020, India will be the world's third-largest auto market, only behind China and the United States, with sales nearly doubling to about 6 million vehicles.

"If we're going to be successful with Jeep, you'll have to localize a vehicle in India," he said. In India, Jeep could start local manufacturing at the Fiat-Tata Motors Ltd joint-venture plant, but there is little spare capacity as Fiat just refreshed its lineup in India, Manley said. Jeep sold 731,565 SUVs globally in 2013 and, Manley said it is on track to sell more than 1 million this year. "Last month helped us a lot, hitting 100,000 vehicles around the world. It was a really big milestone," Manley said.

For the last five years, FCA has left no stone unturned to expand Jeep’s global sales through exports and by producing cars in overseas markets. The company has also signed a joint venture with Guangzhou Automotive to begin producing Jeep  Cherokee in China by 2015.

Now as the Indian auto-sector is an emerging market, the Jeep looks forward to mark its roots in the country. The company will face tough competition from Mercedes-Benz and Audi in premium SUV segment. It’s an intensely competitive marketplace. In recent years a huge number of global OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) have increased their production,” Manley said. “We see pricing as being very difficult.”