Fiat Chrysler expands its production of Jeep

The assemble the Jeep Wrangler (above) and Jeep Grand Cherokee will take place in India. Photo: Jeep

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will invest US$250 million to grow its presence in India with the launch of four new Jeep models over the next two years.

The investment will be made to build locally a midsize, three-row SUV, assemble the Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles in the country and launch a new version of the Jeep Compass, FCA said.

FCA currently has less than a 1 per cent share of India's car market. Adding new vehicles to its portfolio is expected to help the automaker increase local sourcing of components, achieve better economies of scale, reduce costs, and boost sales, says Europe Automotive News.

"Our new investment of $250 million [NZ$344m] will give us a competitive edge in multiple segments," said FCA India's boss, Partha Datta.

The automaker is determined to increase locally made components in its vehicles, he said.

FCA will produce and assemble the new SUVs at its car plant in western India, which it jointly owns with domestic automaker Tata Motors.