New baby Jaguar to be called XE

Jaguar has revealed its new small saloon rival to the BMW 3 Series will be called XE. The new Jaguar XE, which will be revealed this year before going on sale in 2015, will be the first all-aluminium car ever launched in the premium small saloon sector – and prices are expected to start from £30,000. Jaguar is promising a range of cars that stretch from a sub-100g/km model (something the BMW 3 Series doesn’t yet achieve) to one that can reach a top speed of 186mph (a speed that’s also faster than every 3 Series).

VW Passat R-Line introduced

The VW Passat R-Line introduced in the new Passat range But the Passat R-Line (which will be available in both saloon and estate versions) is not really an addition to the Passat range, rather a re-working of the current model options. The Passat Sport and Passat SEL are dropped, and the new range now comprises S, R-Line and Highline. But, just as with the Tiguan R-Line, this is not a power upgrade but merely a cosmetic one.

Volvo Concept Estate previews upcoming V90 wagon

We flipped over the Volvo Concept Coupe at Frankfurt. We praised the XC Concept Coupe at Detroit. But the Volvo Concept Estate is the member of Volvo's recent show trio that finally reduced us to a large petri dish's worth of gibberish-spouting goo.