New Small Jaguar to arrive as compact saloon and crossover in 2015

The New Small Jaguar – aimed at the BMW 3-Series and possibly getting the Jaguar XS moniker – will arrive in 2015 as a compact saloon and crossover.

The New Baby Jaguar will arrive in 2015 and be almost as big as the current XF (pictured)

It’s no secret that the key to Jaguar becoming a proper world player in the premium market is a car to take on the likes of BMW’s 3-Series and Mercedes’ C-Class. It’s also no secret that Jaguar are working on a new small Jaguar to take on the Germans.

That Jaguar – dubbed with the rather unlikely ‘Jaguar XS’ moniker – has been mooted as about to arrive for some time, but Reuters are now reporting Jaguar plans to have it in showrooms in 2015, and will be making an announcement – and perhaps even showing the first XS Concept – at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September.

As expected, the new baby Jaguar will come with aluminium underpinnings and arrive as a compact saloon car – not a hatch – which will also spawn a baby Sportbrake and a crossover – growing market segments that Jaguar needs to compete in if it’s going to emulate the success Land Rover has had with the Range Rover Evoque.

The platform underpinning the new small Jaguar will b e a shortened version of that the next generation XF will use, and it seems unlikely Jaguar will be going down the ‘Paupers’ route with their new baby – at least initially – so we can probably expect engines on offer to be no smaller than the current 2.2 litre diesel offering for the oilburners, although hybrids of some description will also come in to play as will petrol engines, including the new V6 Supercharged and the 2.0 litre Si from the Evoque.

But the engine choices will develop as JLR’s new engines come on stream as it moves away from reliance on Ford’s powerplants, and the option of 4WD (the new baby Jaguar is expected to be RWD) as Jaguar start to roll out four-wheel drive across their entire range in the coming years to extend the appeal of Jaguars in many markets.

It’s a one-hit chance of turning Jaguar in to a major premium car maker, and Jaguar has to get it right. But with ‘XS’ mules running around disguised as XFs – and it seems likely the new ‘XS’ will be almost as big as the current XF (the XF will grow in size when it arrives in a year or so) – it’s clear Jaguar are getting closer to showing the world they really can make a desirable small Jaguar.

We should learn a lot more at Frankfurt in September – if not before.