Jaguar XEL – a long wheelbase XE – REVEALED ahead of a November debut

The Jaguar XEL – a long wheelbase version of Jaguar’s XE saloon – has been revealed ahead of a debut in November. It’s for China only.

Jaguar’s future seems to be linked almost entirely to the production of an ever-increasing range of SUVs and Crossovers, as the world turns its back on Jaguar’s traditional sports saloons.

From the already very successful Jaguar F-Pace to the recently revealed smaller E-Pace by way of the Tesla-bashing electric i-Pace, Jaguar’s future seems tied in to being a road-focussed take on Land Rover.

But in China there is still a healthy market for saloon cars, especially those with plenty of room in the back, so Jaguar is rolling out a long wheelbase version of its smallest saloon – the Jaguar XEL.

Ahead of a debut expected to be at the Guangzhou Motor Show in November, Jaguar has revealed a single photo of the new XEL (above) and as far as we can see it really is just a cut and shut to add some extra room in the back.

Just as BMW, Mercedes and Audi have done with long wheelbase versions of the 3 Series, C-Class and A4, Jaguar has added an extra 100mm to the wheelbase of the XE giving almost as much room in the back as you’d get in the XF.

Power looks like it will come from Jaguar’s 2.0 litre Ingenium petrol engines offering either 200PS or 250PS and will be built in partnership with Chery at the Changshu Plant.

Jaguar has no plans to sell the XEL in the UK or Europe, even if we reckon it would make a decent higher-end taxi.