The Compass could be the car to establish Jeep in fleet, explains Alex Grant.

SECTOR: Crossover PRICE: €25,000-€40,000 FUEL: 4.4-6.9l/100km CO2: 117-160g/kmRemember the old Jeep Compass? For most fleets, you’d be forgiven for not paying it too much attention – this might be one of the world’s most familiar brands, but until recently it’s been a bit of an unknown in the corporate sphere. The quirky Renegade has gone some way towards getting it there, but, with its sights on the lucrative Qashqai segment, the new Compass is the car Jeep hopes will really get its feet under the table.

The opportunity is huge; three quarters of Jeeps registered in Europe last year were Renegades, and this newcomer is expected to be even bigger – set to nearly double its volumes overall. And, with a more fleet-weighted sales mix than the Renegade, backed up by specialist dealers and a central team working across all the FCA brands, the opportunity and infrastructure are in place for it.

With Jeep and Alfa Romeo sharing dealerships, the Compass will be a semi-premium offering – think of this as an Italian-American rival to the Jaguar Land Rover line-up – and pricing will reflect that. Pricing will straddle mainstream and premium-brand products, similar to the Volkswagen Tiguan, and although it’s on an extended Renegade platform, the deliberately more conservative shrunken Grand Cherokee styling is aimed at finding it broader appeal.

Where the old Compass had a limited line-up, its replacement feels well-tuned to class norms. Demand is expected to be weighted towards four-wheel drive, which is available with either a 140hp or 170hp 2.0-litre diesel engine, though it’s only the former that’s offered with a manual gearbox as well as the nine-speed auto. Neither are particularly fuel-efficient, at 5.2l/100km for the manual, or 5.7l/100km for the automatic.

They’re almost unnecessary. Unless you need four-wheel drive, the pick of the line-up is the 120hp 1.6-litre diesel engine – it’s smoother and quieter, especially under load, and almost as punchy to drive as the 2.0-litre engines, while fuel consumption and CO2 are competitive with all except the Renault-Nissan crossovers. Ride quality is good, body roll is limited and it handles much like a big hatchback. The exception, predictably, is the Trailhawk with its off-road tyres and raised ride height. It’s excellent off-road, but compromised on it.

Awareness aside, Jeep’s biggest potential problem is perceived cabin quality next to the impeccable Tiguan – it’s a step up compared to the Renegade, but still a mismatch of plastics, chrome and silver bits inside. That said, it’s well laid out, and the new-generation infotainment system is feature-packed, near lag-free and reasonably intuitive to use, including Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. There’s plenty of headroom in the back, and boot space is competitive if not class-leading.

Arguably, this is a segment that an off-road focused brand like Jeep should have been able to get right years ago. But, by capitalising on FCA’s growing fleet presence, affection for the brand and the continuing demand for crossovers, the Compass could be about to find its place.What We Think

A competent if not class-leading newcomer, Jeep has some awareness-building to do here, but it’s a real opportunity to net existing crossover customers fancying something different.

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