Jaguar Crossover could be the Q-Type or XQ

The fastest growing segment in the car market is the Crossover / SUV, especially the more compact crossovers. So if Jaguar are going to compete in the big league they’re going to have to tap in to Land Rover’s expertise at some point and come up with their own Crossover (NOT a Jaguar SUV, as Ian Callum made clear).

That could perhaps be getting closer with the news that Jaguar has registered both the Q-Type and XQ monikers after Pistonheads played Sherlock and dug the details out from the bowels of the European Union trademark database.

It also seems that Jaguar has no desire (certainly initially) of competing in the Range Rover Sport market, so it seems likely we’ll see a new Jaguar Crossover going up against the Range Rover Evoque, but a far more road-focused version with just a nod to proper off-road abilities. So will that mean Jaguar taking the underpinnings of the Evoque and grafting on a Jaguar body? Probably not.

Although the Evoque is relatively new, it’s underpinnings are based on those of the Freelander, itself a derivative of the Ford platform that underpins the Volvo V60 and Ford Mondeo, so basing a new Jaguar Crossover on that platform would seem a bit short sighted, even if it provided a short-term solution.

What is far more likely is that Jaguar will build their compact crossover off the same platform they’re developing for the new compact Jaguar saloon, the Premium Lightweight Architecture (PLA) which is a development of the platform which underpins the Jaguar XJ and the 2013 Range Rover, and which will underpin the next generation of Jaguar’s models, including the new XF.

Engine choices, based on the current crop of Jaguar engines, would probably be the 2.2 diesel and 2.0 Si petrol (and perhaps something more interesting in the 3.0 litre diesel and maybe even the 3.0 litre V6 supercharged) but by the time the Jaguar Crossover arrives Jaguar will probably have at its disposal the all new range of 4-cylinder engines to be built at their new engine plant.

In fact, it wouldn’t surprise us one bit if the new Jaguar Compact saloon and the new Jaguar Crossover were launched at the same time as two takes on a theme, probably in 2015, just as the new Jaguar engines come on stream.

By Cars UK