Jeep Wrangler

Jeep brands always remained a petrol version world wide. The latest try by the FIAT company who owns JEEP brand has comeout with the diesel engine carved out of their experience in the diesel engine. As a motor enthusiast, I can never think of a JEEP Wrangler or cherokee ROAR with a diesel engine. The negative part is that since the new JEEP diesel engines are not tested for long in the JEEP, the new models that are sold in the Indian market constitute ''Test vehicles" for the company (without the knowledge of the buyer) for the next few years. Jeep is a daily usable vehicle unlike the wrong belief of many that it is good for off road only. With high pricing as at present and unproven diesel engines, one has to see how efficeint and worth the vehicle will be in the Indian regular roads which are mostly as good as off roads.

I consider JEEP as an icon in the off road segment. But sorry to say that keeping aside many of its present day flaws or inefficiency in design and manufacturing, (take the example of the Jeep wrangler) the vehicle as such is NOT WORTH PAYING RS. 75 lacs in terms of Indian currency. The same vehicle is available in the tax free market in the Middle East in the price range of 17-20 lacs for the the very high end models. One can just imagine the disparity in pricing any auto enthusiast has to shell out just for possessing the 'JEEP' name!! The mistake with the manufacturer is the late entry into the Indian market. Unless the models under this brand are manufactured within India (instead of the direct import and KDK arrangements, this is not worth the present price structure unless and until you have plenty of that stacked up somewhere