New Jaguar XE gets a Stella McCartney makeover for Paris Fashion week

Stella McCartney with the Superhero Jaguar XE Jaguar’s big hope for breaking in to the compact premium sector – the Jaguar XE – and taking on the might of the German premium brands will debut in public at next month’s Paris Motor Show. But actually, it’ll get a bit of an airing before that. As part of Jaguar’s #FeelXE publicity campaign, they’ve enlisted the help of fashion designer Stella McCartney to get the new XE out and about in Paris before the Motor Show debut.

Porsche to add 1,000 employees

To keep pace with its planned model expansion and sales targets, Porsche AG will add more than 1,000 employees by 2015, Automotive News Europe has learned from Volkswagen Group sources. About 500 jobs will be added for production of Porsche's new compact SUV, codenamed the Cajun, which will go on sale in 2013 in Europe and in North America about six months later. Porsche's supervisory board will make a decision on the production location of the Cajun in mid-March.

Lexus plans small crossover

Lexus plans to show a production-ready compact SUV to rival the Audi Q3 and BMW X1 at the 2014 Geneva motor show, a company source said. The hybrid model, which will be based on the redesigned Toyota RAV4, will slot below the Lexus RX 450h. It was unclear if or when the vehicle would come to North America.