It’s a well-known fact that Jeep (along with parent company Fiat) is looking to expand its market in India, and are working on bringing the Trailhawk version of their bestselling SUV, the Jeep Compass, to India. Luckily, a test vehicle has been spied back to front, and it indeed does seem like the special one would not only be sold in India, but built here as well. The Compass Trailhawk will be one of the biggest bargain vehicles if it were to be produced in India.

As the name recommends, Trailhawk is a performance-oriented off-road “trail” version of the regular Compass. It is built to conquer rough terrain and this adaptation of Jeep's littlest SUV for India won't compromise on the gear and tech front. It will offer a higher ground clearance when compared with the standard Jeep Compass, and will also sport mud romping gear and a two-tone paint on the exterior.

The Indian market will get the Compass Trailhawk with a diesel motor option, Jeep's 2.0-liter unit delivering 171 bhp and 350 Nm. Sources also suggest that this vehicle will only be available with a 9-speed automatic transmission, although we can hope for a manual transmission alternative to be in the pipeline for the future. There would be a petrol option as well, a 2.4 liter naturally aspirated inline-4, with 180 horsepower, although this is pure speculation at this moment.

Jeep has started street testing the India-spec Compass Trailhawk SUV as detailed by a couple of spy pics that were released some time ago. Fiat Group has postponed the launch of this SUV due to its current predicament. Although the Jeep brand is going strong in India, Fiat India had to shut down operations due to poor sales and towering losses. Also, they might be readying a BS- VI-compliant engine as well, which might take a lot of time for the company. The spy photos additionally uncover that the Trailhawk variation will get double tone paintwork and an alternate structure for the compound wheels when contrasted with the standard models.

Owing to the different color scheme, a brand-new alloy wheel design, and better ground clearance, this Trailhawk version will be very easily distinguishable from the regular Compass. It gets a redesigned front bumper as well, which looks much sportier than the regular one. When you look inside the car, you will discover the jet-black interiors with a reddish tinge to it, which is different from the Compass currently on sale.

The Trailhawk Compass additionally gets a 4WD framework with a low range gearbox and a stone slither mode in the drive select mode. All these are features may not mean a lot to the people who can actually afford to buy this vehicle, but these are very important and necessary features for going off-road.

What the purchasers really have been hanging tight for is the diesel engine option, which is currently missing on the India-spec Compass since its launch in mid-2017. The Jeep Compass Trailhawk could be powered by Fiat’s 2.0-liter Multijet diesel motor mated to a 9-speed programmed transmission sourced from ZF. No other variation of the diesel motor is currently under consideration.

The Jeep Compass Trailhawk may likely also get an all-weather sunroof and a bigger 8.4-inch infotainment system that has made its introduction on the Compass Limited Plus as of late. The Trailhawk is believed to be the highest priced Compass Jeep will sell, when it gets launched mid- 2019. Currently, the Indian lineup of the Compass consists of Sport, Latitude, Limited, Limited (O) and the Limited Plus trims. The Jeep Compass Limited Plus trim is presently valued at Rs 22.9 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).

Sources reveal to us that the ex-showroom cost for the Compass Trailhawk will drift around Rs 25 lakhs. Now, all we can do is wait and see if this SUV will be the winner Fiat Group hopes it will be.