It is well established that Jaguar’s next big launch will be a BMW 3 series competitor and may be named as the XS. But it has recently surfaced up that Jaguar might also launch an SUV and the car will be launched in the year 2016. It may happen that Jaguar will present this car, may be as just as a concept, at the upcoming event of the Frankfurt Motor Show which will commence on the 10th of September.
It was first revealed by Autocar UK in March in the year 2012 that Jaguar has been working on on crossover since the past 2 years and therefore it is most likely that they are prepared for a presentation at the Frankfurt show. Reliable sources who have had the privilege to see this crossover at the customer clinics held in Midlands said that the new crossover is “stunning”. One of the other source who owns an XF presently said that the car’s designing is “unlike anything that Jaguar had done before” and “easily the best-looking vehicle in the room”. This line up at Midlands also included Infiniti FX and Porsche Cayenne. Both of these models are larger than the new Jaguar crossover.
It is believed that the coupe like FX model has been the source of inspiration for the new Jaguar’s designing. This new crossover will directly compete with the Porsche’s new upcoming SUV, Macan. This SUV is dimensionally similar to the Jaguar crossover and has a dramatic designing.
The Jaguar SUV will be a typical 5 door hatchback and will try to capture the younger audience. One of the sources said that “You rarely see one of today’s Jaguar models with a child seat in the back. The crossover will tap into that market.” This crossover may be named as the XQ and will be a sibling to the Jaguar XS competing with BMW 3 series. The new SUV will be utilizing the same aluminium platform (modified XJ platform) as seen in XS. Insiders have revealed that the production version of the crossover will be much more sporting than a full SUV.
This Jaguar crossover will utilize a rear wheel drive system like a small saloon but will also have an option of a 4 wheel drive system. The car will be using a smaller version of the ‘Premium Lightweight Architecture’ that is used in the new Range Rover Sport and Range Rover. A large version of this PLA platform is used in models which are 5 meters or longer. The compact PLA platform will be used in models which have a length in the range of 4.4 to 4.9 meters.
This compact version of PLA platform is expected to be used in 2 entry level Jaguar models and also in the next gen XF. Jaguar believes that the new crossover will be the lightest vehicle in its class. This car will be using the all new 4 cylinder engines tagged as “Hotfire” which is seen in Jaguar Land Rover. This engine combined with the compact PLA platform, the crossover should have the lowest CO2 emissions in its class. Therefore it can be said that the Jaguar crossover will not only be powerful but also eco friendly to a large extent.
The car after its launch in 2016 will be offered with different engine options. Although, all variants will carry 4 cylinder engines, irrespective of being diesel or petrol powered. In the future, which is after a successful launch, the car might be available with a V6 petrol and diesel engine option.
Jaguar global brand director, Mr. Adrian Hallmark, said that “There’s nothing to stop us [Jaguar building an SUV]. Would we take an existing Land Rover or Jaguar and swap badges? Definitely not, that’s a proven model of failure.” He also said that “…why can’t Jaguar have a go at SUVs? There’s no internal inhibitions about it whatsoever.”
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