How the Jeep Compass came to be made in India

Mark T. Allen, Director of Jeep’s famed design studio, had not even in his wildest dreams thought about launching Jeep in India. That was perhaps because Indians weren’t known to do a lot of off-roading, something the iconic Jeep is known for. So, five years ago, when he and his team of designers were tasked with designing the Jeep Compass, a sports utility vehicle (SUV) for emerging markets, they had no clue that India would end up not just as one of the four manufacturing sites for the Compass, but as the export base for all right-hand drive models. “We did not know anything about it. Just five years ago, every Jeep that we made was made in the US,” Allen said. Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons Ltd and an out-and-out automobiles man, may have had something to do with it, according to Allen. “There is a real warm relationship between Ratan Tata and Chairman of Fiat Chrysler chairman Sergio Marchionne. That’s probably how it happened. That’s probably the genesis of how we ended up by doing this car in India.”