Jaguar’s design guru – Ian Callum – has said that extending the new Jaguar XE in to a family including estate, coupe and convertible is going to be tough.
It’ll be tough to extend the Jaguar XE Range in to an Estate & Coupe
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We’ve banged on for years about Jaguar extending their saloon car range (well, the XJ and XF as that’s all they had until the XE arrived) to coupes and estates, at the very least.
But now with a new car – the Jaguar XE – that should, if it’s to compete with BMW, Mercedes and Audi, offer the same sort of range as the Germans do (including Estate, Coupe and Convertible) it seems there may not be a business case in Jaguar’s eyes.
Ian Callum, Jaguar’s design boss, has told Australia’s Car Advice that he already knows what the variants of the XE will look like, but making a business case for them is much tougher than designing them.
Callum said that Jaguar’s much lower volumes than those enjoyed by BMW and Mercedes make it a tough call, and runs the risk of simply take sales from the Jaguar XE saloon rather than adding sales. Callum believes they’d have to be sure of additional sales of an XE Coupe of an extra 25,000 units a year to make it viable.
All of which may be true, but it still seems certain – however tough a business case it may be – that Jaguar will at least travel the Estate and Coupe route for the new XE, but probably not until after they launch a production version of the C-X17 SUV/Crossover in a year or so’s time, a car that is effectively an SUV/Crossover version of the new XE.
Michael B says
When the XE was launched it was described as “the most important car for Jaguar”, yet we are still waiting for a wider range. Without at least an estate, how do Jaguar think they can hope to compete with the Germans? Compact estates are very popular here and in the US. As for the contention that an estate version would take sales from the saloon, that effect must be negligible.
For more than a year, now, I’ve been hanging on to my BMW 330d E91 Touring in the expectation that an estate version of the lovely XE is imminent but bits are beginning to drop off and I can’t wait much longer. I don’t particularly like any of the current German offerings but am I going to be forced to spend my hard-earned cash on yet another (my fifth)?
Graham Willis says
Totally agree – see my post from Sept ’15. I’m still waiting. The XF estate is nice but just too big.
BMW, Audi and Mercedes all have estate versions of their offerings. Why not Jaguar?
Graham says
As a happy owner of a lovely but getting worn out X-type estate (2.2D,110k miles), I despair at having to wait (probably) another year for an XE estate to appear, and then (probably) yet another year for a nearly-new one to come up at a more reasonable price…
Gerry says
If hope fades for an XE estate to be launched our happy experience of 2 X type estate ownership will be likely to end with another longstanding customer drifting to Japan. First new XJ came to us in August 1977. What a pity!
Matt says
They can’t make a business case for making different versions of the XE yet they can make a business case for the stupidly named F-Pace SUV that is a completely new design (at least externally) requiring enormous development costs, is a risky move into a new category for jaguar and will surely take sales from the (way more profitable) Land Rover/Range Rover side of the business. Hmm I think the truth is that Jaguar Land Rover don’t really give two shits about the opinions of the European and western world markets where there is a finite market for their products and it is already crowded with competition; the products they are designing are clearly aimed at flogging as many SUVs and Crossovers to emerging markets with more money than sense
kevin gelder says
come on jaguar, i believe an XE estate (wagon) would be a success in australia. I have a 2012 XF and a 2006 mazda6 wagon to trade. Make mine royal blue with cream suede interior and five spoke chrome mag wheels.
Cheers, Kevin
Keith Straw says
I recently went to Jaguar’s XE event at Castle Bromwich and the most common question asked of all the Jaguar reps present: what about an estate version? There is no business case to answer here. I, and many other people, will not buy an XE unless it is an estate. The XF is just too big and inefficient to be an alternative. To paraphrase someone speaking elsewhere, build it and they will come. Which means don’t build it and the XE will remain another product from the same minor-also-ran-niche manufacturer being faced down by German and Japanese opposition.
RO55 says
Think the XE looks great and would definitely get one to replace my 3.0d 3 Series IF they make an estate version (preferably with a V6 diesel)
mb says
it seems Jag management has finally fallen prey to the SUV pull. If jag wants to be considered a major player in this small exec car market then there is no question about an estate (excluding a coupe) not being a viable business case. they cannot risk losing market presence and potential sales by not extending the range to an estate. that estate should have been ready at the paris motor show ready to take orders and its no use introducing it so many years later like they did with the XF estate and if they do then its plain stupidity of the Jag management team.
M1TCH says
Not having an estate version of the XE is a deal breaker for me. I currently have an XF sportbrake, and whilst that’s an excellent car, the lighter and smaller XE sportbrake has an awful lot of appeal, particularly with a petrol V6 and manual box. If JLR are really not considering an XE Sportbrake, then I hope that the Jaguar SUV is a suitable alternative, if a dynamically poorer one. Time will tell!