Jaguar XF 2.0 litre EcoBoost for China

Jaguar are to fit the 2.0 litre EcoBoost engine to the XF for the Chinese market as a more affordable entry point for the XF range.

Even though Jaguar Land Rover are yet to get official Chinese Government approval for their Joint Venture with Chery, China is already a big market for them and, just like other luxury car makers, they are willing to produce cars just for the China market.

According to reports from China, the Jaguar XF is about to get the 2.0 litre EcoBoost engine from the Range Rover Evoque to create a new entry-level Jaguar XF at a more appealing price point.

Import duties in China for cars can be punitive – and are related to the engine size too – which means the V6 petrol XF the Chinese get (which is no longer offered in the UK) starts at around £60k and the V8 XKR costs a whopping £180k.

But fitting a sub 2.0 litre engine – which is what the 1999cc EcoBoost is – will allow Jaguar to deliver and XF in China for around £40k, a third less than the current entry point.

Which makes plenty of sense, but so too does building an XF with the 240bhp EcoBoost lump under the bonnet for the UK.

Car buyers have become obsessed with diesel engines as the Holy Grail of economy but really, unless you do big annual mileage, a cleaner petrol engine is a much better choice.

We’d expect the Jaguar XF with the 2.0 litre Ecoboost engine to offer economy close to 40mpg and a 0-60mph mid 7 seconds range. That would make it far more appealing than the new 2.2 litre diesel XF, unless you’re a company car driver pounding up and down the motorways.

But Jaguar probably won’t now deliver the UK a 2.0 EcoBoost XF just in case they all get exported to Hong Kong.