The Jaguar XE
Jaguar gave us just a sneak peak of the upcoming XE sedan at the recently concluded Geneva Motor show in March 2014. But now, Jaguar has shifted to a higher gear and made it’s commitment public. ‘A new Jaguar is coming’ is what you’d see if you visited their India website.
So, what is this XE thing?
The XE is Jaguar’s most important baby at the moment. It is a mid size 4 door performance oriented sedan, Jaguar’s answer to BMW’s 3 series, Merc’s C class, Audi’s A4 & Volvo’s S60. It is a very important muscle flex for Jaguar to show it’s capability in the country as they silently move more of their resources here and localize production.
When I say, it’s Jaguar’s most important baby — it really is! It is not just the new car that is in the drawing board, but a whole new vehicle architecture & engine series. It is an amalgamation of 3 new projects this year for Jaguar. I’m sure the XF and XJ now get lower preferences in their R&D.
Jaguar is all set to introduce it’s new architecture with the XE, called the ‘Advanced Aluminium Vehicle Architecture’. We will shortly be seeing Jaguar implement this architecture in all their future projects.
Advanced Aluminium what?
Keeping it very simple, the chassis or the architecture on which the car is built is made of high grade Aluminium based compositions that helps in performance. It reduces weight while maintaining strength thereby improving vehicle dynamics — something Jaguar is respected for.
The Powertrain
Along with the new Aluminium architecture, Jaguar will also be introducing a whole new range of engines called the ‘Ingenium’ series.
The Ingenium engines come with high levels of technology and innovation. The engine architecture is configurable to both longitudinal (rear wheel driven) & transverse configurations (front wheel / 4 wheel drive / all wheel drive).
These engines hold the key to Jaguar’s future plans and products. Having an in-house engine that is highly customizable to projects, Jaguar will now not shy away from making front wheel driven, lesser expensive cars to capture the best of the market.
The XE will see an engine with a capacity of 2000cc and will be offered in petrol and diesel options. An automatic gearbox is mandatory in this segment. Jaguar claims that the engines can help the vehicles reach a top speed of 350 kmph and yet emit less than 100g of CO2 / Kg.
Apart from the Ingenium series, Jaguar’s UK website confirms that the XE will also be getting the super charged 3.0L V6 that powers the F — type with 335 hP
The Cost
It is still not clear where Jaguar will be costing the XE. But rest assured that it can be more expensive than the most expensive sedan in it’s segment. But it depends on the levels of component localization Jaguar Land Rover is capable of. We have to wait and watch.
