Jaguar is setting the platform for 2015, the two-door coupé version is planeed to hit the market in 2018.
The upcoming compact Series fighters from Jaguar, often referred to as the Jaguar XS, could consist of a sedan, wagon and possibly a coupe and GT model (think BMW 5 Series GT). The car's all-aluminum architecture also will provide the basis for two new sports utility vehicles.
Adrian Hallmark, Jaguar's global brand director, claims Jaguar will "build the most advanced, most efficient, most refined car in that [compact luxury sedan] segment. Not almost as good as, but better than the best in the world."
"We selected a suspension architecture that, whichever the classes of cars that we're even thinking about, we know we'll deliver an uncompromised product in that class," says Kevin Stride, a Jaguar vehicle line director.
The X760 was developed as a large-scale project that would satisfy more than Jaguar's need for a new vehicle in the compact luxury sedan segment. The architecture also will spawn two new SUVs, a Jaguar and the Land Rover Evoque XL, which share the codename X761.
The Jaguar SUV is to compete with the BMW X3 and X4 and Jaguar plans to beat Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz at their own game by launching a new offensive which will result in four new models by 2018, says JLR's new strategy boss.
According to a JLR executive quoted by automotive analysts in a recent Bernstein Research report, the new baby Jaguar project is the brand’s last chance. “This is the only choice as Jaguar is not viable at 60,000 units [per year]. If the X760 fails, it will be probably be the end for the brand.”
However, all the signs are that the baby Jaguar project will not be a failure, especially as its financial viability will be propped up by the production of a new Range Rover Evoque XL, based on the same aluminium architecture as the Jaguar models. The Evoque XL will add much-needed volume and healthy profit margins.
The compact premium segment that Jaguar wants to break into is set to grow by another half a million sales by the end of the decade.
According to figures from London-based analyst ISI Auto, the global market for compact premium cars is currently dominated by the three German premium brands. Between them, the BMW 3-series family, Mercedes-Benz C-class and Audi A4 are expected to sell 1.15 million units next year, the majority of the total market segment sales of 1.3 million.
These figures show the huge uphill struggle that has faced Japanese premium brands Lexus and Infiniti, but they also provide hope for Jaguar. While Japanese brands and Cadillac could account for just 147,000 sales globally next year in this segment, Jaguar’s arrival in 2015 could finally shake it up. However, this time Jaguar is coming at the compact premium market with a complete bespoke and freshly engineered car. It is surely Jaguar’s best and last chance to become a true global player.
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