Stunning Jaguar XE breaks cover

Jaguar has takes the wraps of the all-new XE, the car that is arguably going to be the company’s most important car for the next decade. The entry-luxury offering will take on the likes of the BMW 3-series, new Mercedes-Benz C-class and the Audi A4. Till now Jaguar didn’t have a sedan in this range to take the fight to the big German three in a segment that has potential for high numbers but that changes with the unveil of the XE.

The design of the Jaguar XE is truly modern and attractive. It has a good mix of Jaguar family design cues in all its major elements. The front grille for instance resembles the XJ and the updated XF design and the long bonnet and gills are elements inspired by the gorgeous F-Type. The XE has a sporty stance in side profile accentuated by the sloping roofline and attractive alloy wheel design. The rear gets a lip for the boot lid, taillamps that don’t do justice to the rest of the design and split circular exhaust.

Interior design of the Jaguar XE boasts of a youthful character. In this XE S variant that was showcased, dark shades are used, from the piano black inserts to the grey coloured dashboard to the red and black leather combination upholstery, the XE has a good mix of vibrancy and elegance that is required in this class of car. The standad XE will get a lighter shade of grey and a single tone design on the inside. An interesting element is the arch going from door to door enveloping the front of the car and the asymmetrically placed air conditioning vents.

While the Jaguar XE will get a range of engines like the German offerings do, at the unveiling, the company has revealed just one, possibly the range topping variant for the time being, the 3.0-litre supercharged V6 that the Jaguar XE S shown in these pictures gets. The 345PS-450Nm delivering unit can propel the baby Jag from 0-100kmph in 4.9 seconds on its way to a limited top speed of 250kmph. The more widely used engines under the hood though will be from the recently revealed Ingenium family. ZF’s 8-speed automatic makes it to the Jaguar XE as well as the rotary shifter on the inside.

Jaguars in the recent past have developed a reputation for the use of aluminium in the construction of their cars and the XE is no different. The XE is built on a new modular architecture using the lightweight material. Aluminium has also been used in the suspension in an effort to reduce weight. The XE sports a double wishbone front setup and an integral link system at the rear. Jaguar has opted for an electric power steering unit over a hydraulic one for the XE.

The Jaguar XE will be officially launched next year and we expect it to come to India soon enough. The XE will be locally assembled by Tata Motors in India and sold at a competitive price to take on the new BMW 3-series, the latest generation Mercedes-Benz C-Class and the Audi A4.