Jaguar C-X16 gets a name today (and it won’t be Jaguar XE)

The Jaguar C-X16 gets a production name today

Jaguar will reveal the name for the C-X16 to day at the New York Auto Show  - and it won’t be XE - signalling the way forward for Jaguar nomenclature.

Update: It’s the Jaguar F-Type!

Last week Jaguar told us they had some exciting news to reveal at the New York Motor Show and, although we’d hope for a nice new Jaguar reveal, it looks like the news will be the production name for the Jaguar C-X16 and the news it will arrive in showrooms in 2013 first of all as a roadster. Although we could see the C-X16 in Roadster guise for the first time officially.

Despite the C-X16 Concept we saw last year being a coupe, we’ve long expected that Jaguar would launch the C-X16 Roadster first, and that looks likely to be today’s announcement. But the other big news will be the production name for the C-X16.

We always thought Jaguar would revive the XE badge for the C-X16, but at Geneva last month JLR boss Ralph Speth made it clear that the new Jaguar sports car won’t be the XE. But that may not be completely true.

Jaguar have problems with their car names as the Jaguar XJ sits at the top of the Jaguar range, logically leaving relatively few names that sit below ‘J’ in the alphabet. Or at least names that would work (XD for example would make everyone think of a diesel Jag). So a new naming structure is on the cards.

We reported back in October that Jaguar had filed the ‘Jaguar C-XE’ name with the US patent office, which makes sense. That would suggest that we might see a revamp of the Jaguar nomenclature with ‘C’ for coupe – as in C-XE – and S for Saloon/Sedan – meaning S-XF and S-XF. That would give more room to play with an extended model range.

The only glitch in our logic is for Jaguar Roadsters. Prefixing the XE badge with ‘R’ would mean Jaguar’s performance moniker – which is currently a suffix to the model name, as in XFR – wouldn’t really work. So we could be completely wrong.

But we should find out later today.

(45 photos – click any thumbnail for full gallery)

By Cars UK