Jaguar chooses ‘XE’ name for new small sports saloon (2014)

By Ollie Kew and Phil McNamara

First Official Pictures

04 March 2014 13:06

Jaguar will call its new small sports saloon ‘XE’, the company has confirmed. The new sub-XF fastback, scooped by CAR in a world exclusive earlier in 2014, will be available from early 2015, with four-cylinder engines first.

Eventually, you’ll be able to choose from, rear- and four-wheel drive versions, including a 550bhp flagship hot rod. Sounds like fun, but the supercar-chasing XE won’t be the real money-spinner.

The staple of the range will be turbocharged 2.0-litre  four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines, churned out by Jaguar Land Rover’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility currently under construction in Wolverhampton, UK.

Dr Ralf Speth, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover, told CAR: ' XE is the first new car to get Ingenium engines’ [the codename for Jaguar’s next-gen powerplants, named after the Latin word for engine.]

‘XE will be an all-new Jaguar, delivering an advanced aluminium structure which is a first in its segment. It will bring our customers all the benefits of aluminium: lightness, stiffness, for unbeatable handling and efficiency. The new engine and aluminium architecture complement each other: they create a car that drives, feels and looks like a true Jaguar.’

Indeed. Jaguar boasts that the XE’s range will cover everything from a 99g/km super-frugal diesel XE to a supercharged flagship (potentially called XER-S) that can top 186mph.

As you can see from CAR’s spy shots and the chassis images pictured here, the XE has a fastback, cab-rearward stance, and the teaser image shows how Jaguar’s styling team has married XF cues with the looks of the C-X17 SUV concept, which uses the same ‘iQ Al’ aluminium platform.

By Ollie Kew and Phil McNamara