Tata owned Jaguar is back in the headlines again. The British Car manufacturer have officially confirmed that the Jaguar XE, codenamed X760 will indeed see the light of the day.
This will be the first small Jaguar after the X-type was discontinued way back in 2009. It is designed to sit below the XF and is claimed to be the first car in its segment to use an aluminium monocoque structure, first previewed in the C-X17 concept SUV shown in 2013 at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
This puts it directly in competition with the three German giants BMW’s 3-series, Mercedes’ C Class and the Audi’s A4. In an encouraging update, Jaguar has updated its Indian site with the details, or lets say teaser of XE.
We expect XE to be priced competitively between 25 to 35 lacs. The Jaguar XE will be the start of a product offensive as the company seeks to quadruple its sales and it is almost certain to be followed by the C-X17 crossover SUV in 2016.
The XE is initially planned to be powered by a range of new Jaguar Land Rover four-cylinder 2.0-litre turbo petrol and diesel engines called ‘Ingenium’ built at their new engine plant near Wolverhampton in Staffordshire. There may be more powerful engines on offer later and official launch and sales have been scheduled to commence in 2015.
Even though Jaguars are no longer the choice of cars in continental Europe, as many believe that Jags are losing their signature ethos- value for money, stunning styling and a racing pedigree, the brand has been doing quite well in the emerging markets of India and China. The X-type which began production in 2001 and continued to be sold till 2009 was also a very important model but it did not meet the desired success because it essentially felt like a Jaguar on the outside with a Ford in its heart as the engine and suspension were essentially Ford’s.
Jaguar aims to change this with the XE. The car seems to have a stretched oval grille from the C-X17, XF-inspired headlamps and a long wheelbase. The car has also been recently spied cold weather testing. Stay tuned for more details as they come along.
