Nick Miller, Jaguar vehicle programme director on the XE, at the Paris Motor Show described Jaguar’s upcoming XE compact-executive sedan.
1. The market positioning of XE
The XE will square up to the likes of the BMW 3 Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Audi’s A4 and A5 ranges. The pricing should be on par as well but is market dependent.
2. It will be an emotional and rational purchasing decision
The character of the XE will be true to Jaguar DNA in being sporty, connected and will make you feel alive – the emotional side of the purchase. With XE there will also be a rational element, for example it will be more affordable, the running costs will be lower and it should have excellent residual value. It is an excellent balance between technology, breadth of capability and emotional appeal.
3. Powertrain options and possible future direction
Currently, we have a 2,0-litre, four-cylinder, turbodiesel and turbopetrol engine and a 3,0-litre, V6 supercharged engine. The diesel engine is the first of a brand new Ingenium range of engines with a 2,0-litre petrol engine to follow. This is a modular engine range that has commonality between petrol and diesel engines and will also allow adding or deleting cylinders in the future. The vehicle architecture will allow hybrid systems and even a V8 powertrain but we have not taken any decisions in this regard.
4. Biggest challenge during the development of the XE
Finding a balance between what the designers wanted and what was possible from an engineering perspective. As the XE was a clean slate design we had a very strong designer input. We had to blend the design attributes with our engineering targets. For example, we had to develop special front and rear suspension setups to give us both a comfy but also sporty ride. A single side aluminium stamping was requested by the designers and the engineers worked hard to deliver just that.
5. Sporty but conservative styling
This vehicle is very important for Jaguar as it should double our volume regarding sedan sales when it goes to market. We wanted people to know that it is a Jaguar without being transformational. The second reason is that this specific market segment is conservative compared to say the two-door sportscar segment and we did not want to risk moving away too far from the Jaguar family.
Future insight: Possible SUV on XE platform?
As the platform is flexible, we can change the dimensions to suit future applications, for example a crossover SUV. To lengthen the wheelbase of the platform is as simple as increasing the size of a single panel.