2012 Jaguar XE

2012 Jaguar XE

2012 Jaguar XE

2012 Jaguar XE

2012 Jaguar XE

Jaguar has a new sports car in development, and is aiming to roll it out at the 2011 Geneva Auto Show, with hopes of putting into production for 2012. The Jaguar model, the XE, will be positioned under the XK, and aimed squarely at Porsche's 911. The debut of this much anticipated vehicle will be on the 50th anniversary of the iconic Jaguar E-Type, its spiritual successor. 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 deciding to focus the company's resources instead on the development of diesel engines and the X-Type wagon.

2012 Jaguar XE will employ the platform of the XK. All the same, it will be a big challenge to strip off the XK's 4.79 meter length and 1.89 meter width to make something with a length of 4.08 meters and a width of 1.78 meters against the rival Mercedes-Benz SLK. There are also speculations that Jaguar might produce other versions from a longer wheelbase variant of this narrowed platform, possibly offering range to develop four-seater niche entries to stand up against the competition in the compact premium class. Most reports have speculated that Jaguar's newest model will be a lightweight sports car. Jaguar even previewed such a car back in 2000 when it rolled out the original F-Type Concept. The XE will be based on the Jaguar range's flexible architecture, which accommodates the XK, XF and the all-new XJ, and is designed to be a larger, more formal version of the XF, but more lowslung than the current, conservative XJ.

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. European buyers may also be offered the XE with the zippy 272hp version of the new 3.0-liter V-6 diesel that will soon debut in the XF sedan. The new sports car is tipped to be a front-engined, rear-wheel-drive vehicle.


There is speculation that the XE will also feature a plug-in hybrid option in addition to its standard power plant. As well as a plug-in option, Jaguar is also considering a smaller bio-diesel engine after the first year's models roll off the production line. The hybrid would be a gas sipping 3 cylinder gas/electric hybrid version, set up similarly to Chevrolet's upcoming Volt EV. With this model Tata aims to compete directly with other electric roadsters builders like Tesla and Fisker. Expect the 2012 XE Hybrid to be powered by a lithium ion battery pack, as opposed to today's nickel based energy storage devices. The small displacement motor will act mainly to recharge the batteries which they will run off of most of the time, just like General Motors' Volt. In the Chevrolet Volt's powertrain, dubbed Voltec, a battery provides power to an electric motor which drives the vehicle. The Voltec system uses a small four-cylinder engine that kicks on to recharge the battery after 40 miles of driving, extending the range of the vehicle. But the engine can only sustain a certain charge level in the battery - to fully recharge the battery, the vehicle must be plugged in to another power source, like a household outlet.