Jeep Meridian Short Review: Our Appreciations And Complaints After Driving This Highway Cruiser

The Jeep Meridian is now a four-year-old premium midsize SUV in India as we write this report in May 2026. It was introduced back in 2022; however, shifting from its ‘Commander’ moniker in some global markets to the name ‘Meridian’ for India, drawing inspiration from the 77-degree East meridian line. Well, it is essentially based on the Jeep Compass, sharing the same platform, but stretched to accommodate three rows of seating.

Now, addressing the elephant in the room, how does it drive, and is it worth the fat Rs 23 lakh-38 lakh pricing that it is offered with, in India? Read on to find out.

How Does It Look?

The Jeep Meridian is one of those SUVs that will grow on you. It has an elegant and sophisticated look. It's not as imposing as a Toyota Fortuner at first glance, nor does it try to be. It does largely resemble the Compass and the Grand Cherokee in more ways than one. It has proper SUV proportions. Moreover, its long – a little too much for the eyes, yes! Because of its seemingly underwhelming width of 1859 mm, the car look narrow when looked at from the front or rear. 

Its significant ground clearance is evident. The huge gaps between its 18-inch alloy wheels and the unclad wheel arches give it an old-school ladder-frame SUV stance, while still being a monocoque underneath. Now moving from its overall look to finer design details, up on its nose, you’ll see the signature seven-slats grille with plenty of chrome surrounds. There are chrome strips on the bumper as well, which add to its bling. 

On the side, things are super minimalistic with body coloured door handles, no body cladding. There’s ‘Meridian’ lettering on the front doors. The ORVMs in the Meridian have an extended convex section towards the outer edge, which gives a wider view.

At the rear, it's minimalistic again, but it is from this angle where we felt the Meridian carries its most imposing character, thanks to its rounded angles and a large section of the tailgate kept free from any sort of design element. The taillamps are not connected; however, it looks cool blending with the chrome strip in between with the Jeep lettering on it. Unlike the usual trend of having the car name on the tailgate, the Meridian has its variant badging there - we were driving the top spec ‘Overland’ trim, which you can see from the image.

Also, the Meridian comes in seven paint options, and we had it in its Pearl White shade. We found some interesting easter eggs, like, below the wipers, a lizard-designed contour catches your eye, while on the rear windshield, you’ll find a cheetah motif.

Cabin Design & Quality

Step inside the Jeep Meridian and it’s familiar territory for those of us who’ve spent time in the Jeep Compass. The layout is clean, straightforward, and everything falls to hand without needing a second glance. The quality does give that premium feel expected out of the Meridian. The dual-tone Tupelo/Black theme adds to it. The dashboard gets a soft-touch finish, the leatherette wrapping across the top and doors feels rich, and even the lower panels don’t feel like an afterthought.

The knobs, buttons, and even the switches have a satisfying tactile weight to them. Nothing feels flimsy or loose. 

The leatherette seats are wide, supportive, and slightly firm. On longer drives, that firmness actually helps. The second row works well for two adults. There’s good support in terms of legroom and thigh support.

However, one of our taller colleagues, around 5’10 mark had his hair brushing the headliner. It’s not cramped, but it doesn’t feel as generous as you’d expect from something this size.

Now, the third row. Not mincing my words, it’s majorly suited for kids and pets. Adults will have their knees come up – under-thigh support is almost non-existent, as the seats are mounted low, almost on the floor. The sliding second row does help free up some knee room, but still, for anything beyond a quick run, most of us would avoid sitting there if given a choice. The good thing is you get a dedicated AC vent along with blower controls in the third row, too.

In terms of practicality, it covers the basics well. There are bottle holders, armrests, seatback pockets, and charging ports where you’d expect them. But there are a few misses, like the absence of sunshades in the second row.

Boot Space

If you’re using the 7-seater version of the Meridian, the boot space really depends on how you plan to use it. With all three rows up, we managed to fit in one medium-sized and one large-sized cabin bag, which is good enough for short airport runs or a light weekend trip. The third row, as well as the second row, can be folded to make space for a full weekend’s luggage for a family or cargo shifting.

Features & Safety

There isn’t anything to complain about the Meridian’s feature list. It has a 10.1-inch touchscreen infotainment system. The display is sharp, and the interface is responsive. We also found it fairly easy to connect wireless Android Auto/Apple CarPlay whenever required. A small but thoughtful touch was that the infotainment's brightness adjust automatically, depending on the lighting, to make it less distracting, but Jeep went a step ahead and gave a dedicated button to switch it off completely if you want. This can be particularly useful during night drives.

The 10.2-inch digital instrument cluster’s layout is clean and easy to read. The 9-speaker Alpine sound system has good bass. The dual-zone air conditioning deserves a special mention here; it chills down the cabin really quickly, even in the harsh Indian summers. The front seat ventilation isn’t particularly strong and has a room for improvement. The panoramic sunroof adds a sense of openness, while the wireless phone charger and a powered tailgate make everyday usage easier.

On the safety front, the Meridian comes equipped with six airbags, electronic stability control (ESC), traction control, hill hold assist, and a tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS) as standard. The 360-degree camera is particularly useful in tight spaces. The resolution was fairly good.

Its Level 1 ADAS features are helpful during highway drives; however, if you want to turn that off, you gotta do that every time you start the car, as it resets itself every time.

Driving Experience, Ride & Handling

We spent two days driving around the Jeep Meridian across Pune’s traffic, as well as taking the open highway stretches towards Lonavala. In the city, the Meridian feels surprisingly easy, especially for its size. The visibility is good. It doesn’t feel like a big, intimidating SUV - something you can drive daily without stress. That said, the steering does feel a bit on the heavier side at times, but it’s not something that really bothers you once you get used to it.

The Meridian’s 2-litre diesel engine has enough punch for regular driving. There’s good low-end torque, so you’re not constantly working the gearbox. But when you push it, you’ll realise it’s not a very eager motor. In fact, till about 2000-2200 rpm, the engine isn’t very responsive; it is only after it moves above that mark that the turbo kicks in (pretty obvious for diesels) and the engine starts to respond quickly to inputs.

Talking about refinement - it could’ve been better. You can hear the diesel clatter even at idle, although it's quieter when under steady acceleration. The 9-speed automatic gearbox is smooth in regular driving, but with so many gears, it does tend to shuffle a lot. At times, this makes the car feel like it’s a bit confused when you’re cruising on triple-digit speeds.

On the highway, at 100 kmph, the Meridian felt relaxed, and the engine wasn’t working too hard thanks to that tall gearing. But when there’s the need to overtake quickly, there’s a slight delay before things happen - you learn to drive around it. That said, when we pushed it to 151 kmph, the Meridian felt completely in its element. It won’t make you realise the kind of speed you’re at, say above 150 kmph - just proper highway cruiser behaviour.

The ride quality of the Meridian does deserve some appreciation. It goes over bad patches and potholes very much like how an SUV should, isolating the cabin from any sharp jolts or vibrations. Even on the highway, it feels stable and planted. Long drives in this won’t tire you out. Handling is pretty decent, too. It doesn’t lean too much in corners, and we felt quite confident in being behind its wheel.

There are a couple of small irritants, though. The dead pedal placement felt a bit awkward, and you’ll find yourself adjusting your foot more often than you’d like, especially on longer drives. I’d recommend keeping your left foot on the floor if you’re driving the automatic.

Fuel efficiency is something where the Meridian isn’t very impressive. We got around 7 kmpl, which is not frugal, sure, but to be fair, this included a fair bit of spirited driving. Driving it with a lighter foot, you can expect a better return. But at the end of the day, this isn’t a car you buy for saving fuel anyway, right?

ZigSays…

After spending a couple of days with the Jeep Meridian, we’ve concluded that it's not the kind of SUV that wins you over instantly. While it's a big SUV, it somewhat lacks the road presence expected out of its size, but then it looks understatedly stylish. Its cabin isn’t the most spacious to sit in, but the quality and cabin features take good care of your comfort once you settle in. Also, it's important to note that this car is capable of good off-road duties - something which I didn’t dive into for this review. From our experience, the Meridian is the SUV to have if your driving includes a lot of highway cruising. You’ll hardly have any complaints when you’re sprinting with this SUV over long stretches. 

Will the Jeep Meridian be your pick against the likes of Skoda Kodiaq, Toyota Fortuner or the upcoming MG Majestor? Let us know in the comments.