Jaguar XE – more detail

It’s been clear ever since Tata took over Jaguar that they have ambitious plans. Yes – in common with every other car maker in the world – they have big financial issues. But Jaguar has now acquired private funding for the business, so things are starting to look up. And they deserve it. If you exclude the Jaguar X Type, which is about to end production, Jaguar has a brilliant range of products on offer. The new Jag XJ should – unless the world’s gone completely mad – be a runaway success. And the Jaguar XF – in particular the Jaguar XFR we recently reviewed – is a wonderful car. Even the XK is now up there with the best after getting Jaguar’s latest 5.0 litre V8.

But where to next? We reported earlier this year on a Jaguar coupe/roadster to take on the likes of the Audi R8. But according to Car Magazine – who had the pretty good rendering at the top done – the next Jaguar on the cards will be the Jaguar XE (as we speculated earlier this year), but it will actually be aimed a notch down from where we thought – straight in to the firing line of cars like the Porsche Boxster and even the 911.

Likely to have a V6 turning out around 275bhp, the £50-£60k Jaguar XE will be turning up by late 2012. Which is an enticing prospect. It will fill a gap beneath the Jaguar XK and hopefully means Jaguar has given up on the idea of producing a car to compete in the 3 Series / A4 sector, instead concentrating on stunning proper-sized saloons and sport coupes.

Of course, there is more mileage to be had from the latest line up. We expect to see a Jaguar XF Coupe and Roadster before too long, and Ian Callum – Jaguar’s Design Guru – has already acknowledged that the new Jaguar XJC is on the drawing board.

If Jaguar can get through the current economic malaise that has beset the world – and it’s certainly looking like it can – then Jaguar are going to be back at the top of the heap in no time at all.

Source: Car Magazine