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Seven-seat crossover Jeep Meridian: no more powerful than the Brazilian brother

By Lukas Müller On Jul 7, 2022

Jeep has almost completely unveiled a new three-row SUV designed for the Indian market. There, the model will initially be available exclusively with a diesel engine, but later the range may be expanded.

Last year, the Brazilian division of Stellantis introduced the seven-seater Jeep Commander (not to be confused with the Chinese Commander): this model is focused on Latin America, production has been established in Brazil. And soon such an SUV will also be “registered” in India, only there it will be sold under a different name – Meridian. The Indian version was officially announced in February, and now an online presentation has taken place, where the main introductions were announced.

Jeep meridian

Recall that the Meridian / Commander is based on the Jeep Compass, both SUVs are based on the Small Wide 4 × 4 platform. By the way, for some time it was believed that the elongated crossover would be positioned simply as a seven-seater version of the Compass, albeit with the prefix Grand. However, in the end, Stellaantis decided to turn this cross into a separate model.

Jeep meridian

The design of the Meridian almost does not differ from the Brazilian Commander, except that the filler in the headlights has been replaced, in addition, the design of the disks has been changed. Compared to the original Jeep Compass, three-row crossovers have different bumpers, optics and a tailgate. All dimensions of the Jeep Meridian have not yet been disclosed, but the Indian specialized media believe that they are the same as the Commander: length: 4769 mm, wheelbase: 2794 mm (compass dimensions: 4405 and 2636 mm, respectively).

Jeep meridian

Inside, the “Indian” also repeated the “Brazilian”, not counting, of course, the location of the steering wheel. Well, in general, the interior is the same as that of the donor Compass. For Meridian, a multimedia system with a touch screen with a diagonal of 10.1 inches, a virtual “order” (10.25 inches), wireless charging for a smartphone, six airbags, dual-zone climate control, built-in cameras and a drive mode selection system are announced. As in Brazil, the cross is currently only available in a seven-seat version (2+3+2), while Meridian may receive a six-seat version later (this option has not yet been announced for the Commander).

Jeep meridian

At launch, the Meridian will be available exclusively with the 2.0 turbodiesel. The impact is not reported, but if earlier the Indian media believed that compared to the Commander, the power would be increased to 200 hp, now they are writing about the same 170 hp that the Brazilian engine also produces. Boxes – a six-speed “mechanics” or a nine-speed “automatic” for the Jeep Meridian provides all-wheel drive. In the future, according to local media, the crossover may be equipped with a gasoline engine, but there are no details about it yet (in Brazil, you can also buy an SUV with a 1.3 petrol turbo engine with 187 hp).

brazilian jeep commander

Production of the Jeep Meridian will be based at the same Indian plant as the Compass, with an 82% localization rate promised for the three-row crossover. It is expected that the novelty will be delivered to other countries. In India, orders will begin to be accepted in May, and it will be possible to ship cars to customers in June this year.