Jeep's New Made-In-India Mid-Sized SUV To Be Based On Tata Sierra
It was in May that Stellantis Group, Jeep’s parent company announced at its 2026 Investor Day that it will base its next SUV on a platform supplied by an Indian source. The presentation also mentioned Tata Motors to be the source. Stellantis, however, did not give out the details of the platform then. This move is part of Jeep’s FastLane 2030 turnaround plan. Tata Motors and Stellantis have established a joint venture (JV) for the same. The new SUV is expected to launch in 2028 and will be sold in over 50 countries. According to latest reports, it will use the ARGOS platform that underpins the Sierra. In a way, the American carmaker’s next mid-size SUV will be based on the Tata Sierra!
Jeep’s new SUV will be developed and manufactured in India. This aligns with Jeep’s new strategy of localising product development for emerging markets. It will be exported to markets like Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Africa and South America in addition to India. The new SUV will be built at the Ranjangaon facility near Pune. This facility sits at the heart of Tata- Stellantis 50:50 joint venture, which has been around for a while.
Industry sources indicate that the new Jeep SUV will be based on Tata Motors’ ARGOS platform. This also forms the base of the Sierra that continues to be in high demand now. ‘ARGOS’ expands to ‘All-Terrain Ready, Omni-Energy and Geometry Scalable’. It is a versatile, multi-energy modular platform. It will support multiple powertrain options- petrol, hybrid and electric.
More importantly, the ARGOS platform supports All Wheel Drive technology- a must-have for every Jeep model. The global guidelines of this American SUV brand explicitly requires every model line to have at least one four-wheel-drive variant available. If you look at its Indian lineup, the Compass, Meridian, Grand Cherokee and Wrangler - all offer at least one 4x4 variant.
This partnership between Tata Motors and Stellantis for this project is structured as a platform and powertrain supply arrangement. Tata will provide the ARGOS platform along with its newly-developed 1.5-litre turbocharged direct injection petrol engine. Jeep will design and engineer the product independently. Its global teams are expected to work on this project.
The exterior and interior designs will align with the American manufacturer’s styling direction. Even the signature performance and handling will be carried over. Another interesting detail is that Tata Motors will have no financial stake in the SUV’s commercial success.
Before finalising the deal with Tata Motors, Stellantis Group had evaluated several alternatives. The STLA-M architecture, Jeep’s multi-energy global platform, was first considered for India. This, however, proved to be too expensive to localise. Taking that route can prove to be tough for a price-sensitive marker like India. Developing an all-new platform from scratch will also be cost-intensive.
Another option was the Citroen C-Cubed platform. This was, however, ruled out because of the absence of support for All Wheel Drive system and an advanced electrical architecture needed for enabling features like ADAS and connected car technologies.
ARGOS already has a high degree of localisation gone into it. It also comes with a modern electronics backbone and greater scalability.
Jeep will use Tata’s new 1.5-litre (TGDI) direct injection turbocharged petrol engine (Hyperion) on the new product. The Compass and Meridian have also lacked a petrol engine for long. Tata’s new engine is already compliant with the upcoming stricter emission norms. An all-electric version of the new SUV will also remain a possibility.
In short, for Jeep, the upcoming SUV will play a key role in expanding its footprint in emerging markets. Additionally, existing Compass and Meridian will also get the turbo-petrol engine, widening their appeal further.
Source: Autocar India