Spied - 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee tests on the Mumbai Expressway

15/07/2013 - 11:30 | ,  ,   | Anjan Ravi

The 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee was spied again very recently in India. These images were taken by Indian Autos Blog reader Mr. Sujeet Jangid on the Mumbai Pune Expressway. Mr. Jangid says that the Grand Cherokee looked "huge and very dominating".

Jeep, or rather Fiat India, is testing two versions of the Grand Cherokee in India: the 2014 model year which was unveiled at the 2013 Detroit Motor Show, and the previous generation version.

2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee spied in India side
The Grand Cherokee would start out as a CBU, but local production is planned once the brand is off to a start.

The one spotted here is the 2014 MY as can be seen by the taillight design. There's no confusion on which version is identified as Fiat India MD Nagesh Basavanhalli confirmed to us that Jeep would strictly bring the latest products to India. He also confirmed local assembly of these cars to beat the high tariff but refused to share a timeline for the start of local production.

The Grand Cherokee in the UK has two diesel engine options which would most likely make its way into India. A 3.0-liter CRD V6 produces 188bhp and 440Nm of torque in the base variant. The same engine is tuned to produce 247bhp and 570Nm of torque in the higher variants. An 8-speed automatic transmission is standard across the range.

The Jeep brand is expected to be launched in India by October/festive season this year. To start with, two models would be available - the Wrangler and the Grand Cherokee. Both these models would be imported through the CBU route. The Cherokee is manufactured at the Jefferson Avenue Plant in Detroit.

2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee spied in India rear
Its a double whammy for Jeep as dollar value has soared and CBU taxes have risen since the American brand announced its Indian foray late last year.

Check out our exhaustive coverage on the Jeep brand

The Jeeps would not be sold through the Fiat dealer network. Jeep is aiming for dealerships in the 10 biggest Indian cities in the first phase of its retail strategy. Independent Fiat dealers would be approached to invest on Jeep dealerships for their cities.

The Grand Cherokee is expected to carry a price tag in the vicinity of about INR 45-50 lakhs.

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