Official bookings for the forthcoming Jeep Meridian will commence in May 2022, and the SUV has managed to generate a lot of hype even before that
Jeep Meridian was recently unveiled in India, and the manufacturer has announced that it will start accepting orders for this SUV starting from May 3rd. Regular readers would remember that Meridian shares its architecture with Jeep Compass, but with alterations to fit the third row of seats.
Before the new Jeep Meridian goes on sale in India, here are five things that you should know about it.
1. Muscular design
Jeep Meridian is quite a looker, with a lot of street presence. At the front, it gets rectangular headlamps along with the signature seven-slot grille. At the sides, we see slightly flared wheelarches, 18-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels, blacked-out pillars, and black cladding all around. At the rear, it gets sleek LED taillights, a bold tailgate, and a silver-finished skid plate on the bumper.
2. Premium interior
The cabin of the upcoming Jeep Meridian has a lot of commonalities with Compass, including the design of the dashboard, steering wheel, and centre console. However, the new model gets a dual-tone black and brown theme, with quilted leather upholstery, which is much more premium.
3. Plenty of features
The 10.25-inch digital instrument console and the 10.1-inch touchscreen will be offered on Meridian, the same as Compass. Other features to be offered include powered front seats, wireless smartphone charger, wireless smartphone connectivity (Apple CarPlay and Android Auto), dual-zone climate control, panoramic sunroof, powered tailgate, etc.
The safety equipment list will be quite impressive as well, consisting of six airbags, traction control, 360-degree camera, ABS with EBD, hill start assist, hill descent control, ESC, etc. ADAS (advanced driver assistance system) might also be available here, as per speculation.
4. Powerful diesel engine
Jeep Meridian will have just one engine on offer at launch – a 2.0-litre, turbocharged, inline-4 diesel motor. This powerplant is good for 170 PS and 350 Nm, and it can be had with either a 6-speed manual or a 9-speed torque-converter automatic transmission. The SUV is offered in a front-wheel-drive configuration as standard, while an all-wheel-drive option is available on the diesel-automatic version.
5. Commencement of deliveries
While bookings for Jeep Meridian will open early next month, customer deliveries will begin towards the end of June 2022. It is expected to have a starting price of around Rs. 26 lakh (ex-showroom), and its closest rivals in the Indian market will be Skoda Kodiaq, Mahindra Alturas G4, Toyota Fortuner, etc.