2017 Jeep Compass Unveiled
Charged with the important role of replacing not one but two of Jeep's oldest Sports Utility Vehicles and restoring the brand's toughness in the compact segment, the all-new, second-generation 2017 Compass is on a mission to show that the world
Charged with the important role of replacing not one but two of Jeep's oldest Sports Utility Vehicles and restoring the brand's toughness in the compact segment, the all-new, second-generation 2017 Compass is on a mission to show that the world's first real off-road manufacturer of SUVs can still set benchmarks in the rough stuff.
In both price and size, the new Compass will fit into Jeep Australia's portfolio between the baby Renegade launched late last year and the mid-sized Cherokee. Competing in the red-hot compact SUV sales segment, it will need to have lots of buyer appeal and absolute reassurance that the Jeep quality/reliability issues of old have been banished.
It is to replace both the Patriot and first-generation Compass, two slow-selling models barely changed in the decade they've been on the market in Australia. Until the Renegade came along, the first Compass was the softest of the Jeep range and, in base form, the first Jeep with front-wheel drive.
Unlike the new Renegade which has cute styling inspired by the Wrangler, the new Compass takes tougher looks borrowing heavily from the flagship Grand Cherokee and including familiar Jeep cues such as the seven-slot grille and trapezoidal wheel arches which have been part of the familiar Jeep look since 1941.