Would you pay 40 lakh for a Jeep?

The luxury car market in India has been growing consistently and while it does hint at the fact that people are indeed buying more luxurious cars it doesn’t necessarily mean that Indian consumers are buying expensive cars. There are still many cars which have a high price tag, which seem luxurious and which also might come under the banner of a luxury brand, but these cars do not sell very well, the best examples being Volvo and Volkswagen. When Indians go into the market for luxury they demand the very best, an anything priced above Rs 20 lakh should automatically fall into the luxurious category.

However, now with Chrysler all set to enter the Indian market and launch the legendary Jeep brand, we might just see a completely new segment being created in the Indian market. The first product that will be launched from Chrysler will be the Jeep Wrangler, and this product is no stranger to India as its first ever model (aka the Willys CJ) at one point in time was being assembled in India. Now in its new avatar the Jeep Wrangler is considered one of the best off-roaders in the world. Although it lies entirely outside of the luxury car segment and is mainly a brute off-roader with mildly comfortable interiors the Wrangler will cost around Rs 38 lakh in India. Now for a car priced like that it would be very interesting to see what kind of demographic population would be interested in such a car for such a price on Indian shores. Surely the true off-road enthusiasts will look forward to this but just how many of them can afford the Wrangler.

The Wrangler to grace our shores will come with a 2.8-litre common-rail diesel engine good for 197bhp and also will feature front and rear live-axles making it a serious off-roader. There is no other product except for maybe the Land Rover Freelander that comes into the same class vehicle, but even the Freelander is considered a luxury SUV, whereas the Jeep is far from it. It will be very interesting to see what plans Chrysler has for the Indian market and whether or not Fiat will help them with localization. One thing is for sure though, and that is that no matter the price, the Jeep Wrangler could be the most exciting product launch in India of 2013.