In keeping with the 4xe’s more extreme billing, it has a 10mm suspension lift to boost ground clearance and give 31deg departure, 16deg breakover and 27deg approach angles.
The Compass First Edition will be priced at £35,700 in mild-hybrid form and £39,200 as a EV. PHEV pricing will be revealed later.
Q&A: Ralph Gilles, chief design officer, Stellantis
Is it a challenge to adapt modular, road-focused group architectures to Jeep’s needs?
“The good news is that everybody realises how important Jeep is to Stellantis and [the architectures] give us quite a bit of leeway. We negotiated a lot of leeway ourselves – for the largest wheel possible, and there was some overhang to be reduced. So it was foreseen with that ability. We were able to really protect that platform for several future products.”
Do you feel as though Jeep has lost a unique selling point as other brands start to trade on utilitarian ‘design for purpose’?
“There’s only one at the end of the day. I know that’s our tagline, but we really do believe that. When you’re Jeep, you have that confi dence that people are going to get exactly what they want out of it. We found the sweet spot in giving the right image, the right robustness.”
You have 80 years of heritage. As everyone is doing retro, why not lean on that in your designs more?
“It’s been done. We don’t need to do that. I’m actually proud of the direction this has taken, which is much more futuristic and timeless. As modern as it’s gone with the design, it has a beautiful understatedness to it, which I think makes it last and broadens its appeal.”