Jeep takes the covers off the Compass facelift

The Jeep Compass was first launched in 2017, and apart from the addition of the Trailhawk, there have been no major changes to the SUV. However, Jeep India has now unveiled the Compass facelift – a mid-life refresh with minor styling tweaks, more equipment and an all new interior.

Exterior

While maintaining the older silhouette and overall design language, the Compass gets a redesigned front bumper to make it look sharper, with new fog lamps. It also gets new LED projector headlamps with DRLs and new LED taillamps as well. The plastic cladding is now body-coloured and not a matte-black, adding more mass and making the otherwise rugged Jeep look rather sophisticated. It gets a new design for the alloys as well.

Interior

The real change is on the inside as the Jeep Compass gets a restyled interior. The new dashboard features a metal accent that runs the entire width of the SUV, that Jeep claims has been incorporated to give the impression of more space.. The dashboard can also be specced to be dual tone. It now gets a new floating 10.1-inch touchscreen infotainment system that sits quite high up and a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster. This floating touchscreen has freed up space on the dashboard to allow for a comprehensive redesign. The air-con vents are new and look far sleeker than before, the AC controls have been redesigned and below that, the centre console as well. There’s a new wireless charger and a new gear-selector on automatic variants. The controls for the various functions of the car have been moved around as well – with a toggle switch to select the various drive modes, replacing the rotary dial. The materials used on the dash look different as well, there’s a lot of glossy black plastics and it looks more sophisticated than before. The steering wheel is also new, as is the Jeep logo on the ‘wheel.

The Compass facelift is the first product in India to get the company’s UConnect-5 infotainment system that offers many connected car features like Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity, over-the-air (OTA) updates functionality and stolen vehicle assist. Jeep now has an app through which you can see real time data related to the car’s health, location and so on. It is also equipped with wireless charging, voice control and 360 degree camera assist.

Jeep has even added a lot of personalisation options with the infotainment and instrument cluster with a memory function as well so that different users can save their preferences. Jeep also claims that the new Compass now has increased storage space inside the cabin.

Engine

Jeep India has not yet revealed if there will be an upgrade to the powertrain but since the BS6 update came only recently, we suspect that it will continue to offer the outgoing model’s turbo-petrol and diesel units. The 2-litre diesel unit makes 167bhp and 350Nm and is available with a 6-speed manual and a 9-speed automatic transmission. The 1.4-litre turbo-petrol unit makes 157bhp and 250Nm can be had with a 6-speed manual and a 7-speed DCT. Meanwhile the Trailhawk gets the same diesel unit paired with the 9-speed automatic gearbox along with 4L and Selec-Terrain traction management system for additional off-road capability.

Prices are expected to be revealed by the end of the month. The facelifted Compass goes head to head with the Tata Harrier on one end and the Hyundai Tucson on the other, and we can’t wait to see how the battle will go down. Stay tuned for more updates on the new Compass!