2013 Jaguar XE

2013 Jaguar XE

2013 Jaguar XE

2013 Jaguar XE

Here are some of the first spy shots available of the upcoming 2013 Jaguar XE - the British marque's new baby sports model.This prototype mule is riding on a shortened chassis and body from the XK. The XE will be offered as both a coupe and cabriolet model, and it's a cabrio we've spotted here today.

Details are still sketchy on the XE, but we expect it to be a two-seater and priced competitively with the Porsche 911, the model it aims to compete against. Given the long Jag nose, it will sport a mid-front engine mounting for performance handling.

The XE is also expected to be fitted with a V6 engine in at least two configurations, one naturally-aspirated and one supercharged. Output levels will be competitive with Cayman and 911 models

2014 Jaguar XE

2014 Jaguar XE

2014 Jaguar XE

2014 Jaguar XE

The on-again, off-again Jaguar XE sports car apparently is on again and set for a 2011 debut as a show car at the Geneva Motor Show, which will also be the 50th anniversary of the unveiling of the legendary E-Type at the same event.

Jaguar has been toying with the idea of producing a front-engine, rear-drive 2-seater for a decade now, having shown such a concept at the 2000 North American International Auto Show called the F-Type. That in turn was inspired by a 1998 mid-engine show car called the XK180 that was presented in Paris in 1998. The switch from mid- to front-engine for the F-Type was to align it closer to the S-type sedan components upon which it was originally going to be based.

Unlike the F-Type, the XE currently under consideration would have an all-new aluminum body and chassis with a front-engine, rear-drive layout using the technology and processes developed for the alloy-intensive XJ sedan. Several engine options are rumored including a supercharged V-6 producing 385 bhp, the newly introduced 510-bhp 5.0-liter supercharged V-8 used in the R-Series products and perhaps an extended-range electric.

While the concept version of the production model would be timed for the E-Type anniversary, actual production of the car isn’t expected to begin until the 2013 calendar year. Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata Group that now owns Jaguar, has publicly stated his desire to see the British automaker get back into the sports car market.

2013 Jaguar XE

2013 Jaguar XE

2013 Jaguar XE

2013 Jaguar XE

According to Car Magazine, the British brand is working on the 2013 Jaguar XE - a new coupe and roadster line-up that will fall in the same market segment as the Porsche Boxter and Cayman. The new 2013 Jaguar XE is part of a new company strategy that aims to transform it into the British Porsche. The 2013 Jaguar XE price should fall in the 60,000 Euros range.

The 2013 Jaguar XE will have a new lightweight architecture and although it will fight Porsche, it will have a front-engine platform with rear-wheel-drive.

The power of the 2013 Jaguar XE is expected to come from a supercharged V6 engine developing around 350 hp or a naturally aspirated one with 270 hp.

The 2013 Jaguar XE is expected to spawn a 2013 Jaguar XER version in two years time after the launch of the base model.

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.