Jaguar is working on a new sports car that will be positioned under the XK, and aimed squarely at Porsche's 911. To be called XE, the car will likely make its debut at the 2011 Geneva Show, on the 50th anniversary of the iconic Jaguar E-Type, its spiritual successor
The XE will be based on the Jaguar range's flexible architecture, which accommodates the XK, XF and the all-new XJ which debuts this September at the Frankfurt auto show, and is designed to be a larger, more formal version of the XF, but more lowslung than the current, conservative XJ. Rumors of a smaller, more focused Jaguar sports car have been around for decades. Ford, which never truly understood Jaguar, cancelled work on one called the F-Type about 10 years ago (the illustration pictured is of the stillborn car), deciding to focus the company's resources instead on the development of diesel engines and the X-Type wagon.
But Ratan Tata, whose company now owns Jaguar, is supporting the development of the XE. "I don't believe we can afford to emerge from the recession as we are," he told British magazine Autocar recently. "We need to emerge with something shiny and new, which is why we are re-prioritizing the roadster right now." Tata has a much more personal connection with Jaguar than most of the Ford bosses previously responsible for the company's direction: his father once owned an XK120.
With the '10 XKR stickered at $102,000 including destination, there's room for the XE to tackle the Porsche 911 in the $80k-plus range. That means it'll also be up against the Aston Martin V8 Vantage, a challenge Jaguar might not have been allowed to make before Ford Motor Company sold Aston and then Jaguar/Land Rover. Design chief Ian Callum is emphasizing subtle heritage cues over out-and-out retro styling, so there'll be none of the F-Type concept from the early '00s. Besides being too old, the hoodline of that homage to the E-Type could not meet European pedestrian collision standards.
The new 5.0-liter AJ-V8 Gen III engines -- 385hp in naturally aspirated form, and 510hp with a supercharger -- will give the smaller, lighter XE plenty of punch, with a low 4.0sec 0-60mph time feasible from the XER version. European buyers may also be offered the XE with the punchy 272hp version of the new 3.0-liter V-6 diesel that will soon debut in the XF sedan. With a reported 442lb-ft of torque available (just 19lb-ft less than the supercharged V-8) this engine could still deliver sub-six second 0-60mph performance with 35mpg gas mileage.