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Jaguar working on lighter F-Type with C-X75's twin-charged engine?

Every automaker has its own agenda when it comes to concept cars. Some roll them out just to showcase where it's heading. Others create them to gauge public opinion for a potential production model. Still others only showcase a concept car to preview a model that's already well underway. Jaguar is just such a company.
In the last several years, Coventry has only produced a handful of concept cars, and each of them - the C-X16 that foreshadowed the F-Type, the C-X17 that previews the upcoming crossover and Project 7 that is now entering limited production - has led straight to the introduction of a new, commercially available model. Except for one: the C-X75.
The extreme lightweight supercar was set to succeed the XJ220 with a number of advanced technologies, but unfortunately Jaguar ended up pulling the plug to watch from the sidelines as McLaren, Ferrari and Porsche got all the attention for their new hybrid hypercars. But that doesn't mean that some of the technologies initially developed for the C-X75 won't find their way into other Jaguar products.

2019 Jaguar F-Pace adds technology, gets to keep all its engines

Jaguar recently revealed a lightly refreshed XE sports sedan with a more modern interior and technology, but it also lost its V6 and diesel engine options. That led us to believe the same might happen to the updated 2019 Jaguar F-Pace, but instead, it gets a lighter update inside and both the diesel four-cylinder and supercharged V6 engines stick around for another model year. While styling stays the same, the technology updates for the 2019 F-Pace are welcome. All F-Paces get a bigger 10-inch infotainment display, and the system itself has updated graphics from the I-Pace electric car. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are now available, too, but as an optional extra. The tech updates aren't just limited to infotainment, though. The blind-spot monitoring system will now apply a counter-steering force if it detects an object when the driver begins to merge. The optional adaptive cruise control now has an active steering feature that will keep the car centered in its lane on the highway. With the added technology updates comes higher prices. The base 25t four-cylinder F-Pace price goes up by $2,735 for a total of $45,825 with destination. The diesel-powered 20d jumps $2,475 for a total of $49,775. The 30t with the more powerful four-cylinder engine increases $2,475 to $51,275. The V6-equipped S has the smallest increase of $2,025 bringing its final base price to $62,825. The new SVR wasn't around last year, so it doesn't see an increase, but for reference it starts at $81,015 with destination.

Jaguar could replace two of its slow-selling sedans with a compact hatchback

Jaguar needs a home run, and it might merge the slow-selling XE and XF into a single model in a swing for the fences. The company is considering several ways to replace its two smallest sedans, and one option on the table is filling the gaps they'll create with a compact hatchback that would take Jaguar into a segment it's never been in before. Nothing is official yet, and Jaguar still hasn't ruled out developing a direct successor to each model, but British magazine Autocar learned at least two other options are being evaluated. Julian Thomson, the company's design boss, suggested their spot might be filled by a city-friendly hatch that would stretch about 177 inches from bumper to bumper, a figure that would catapult it into a segment dominated by the Audi A3, the BMW 1 Series, and the Mercedes-Benz A-Class. It would lure a new set of customers into the company's global showrooms. "I'd love to do smaller cars, and it feels as though the time is right. Jaguar needs a global product that could appeal to younger buyers, and more females as well," Thomson the publication. Although that's simple on paper, it's a lot more difficult to achieve in real life. "It's a tough sector. You need big numbers, which means big factories, and a big organization to sell them. But that's definitely where I would like us to be." Jaguar would need to find a cost-effective way to build the model. Developing an architecture from scratch is one possibility, though it's an expensive one for a company whose financial foundations are shaky at best. It could use its new MLA platform if it's flexible enough to underpin a small car, or it could ask BMW — which it's linked to via several on-going partnerships — to use the front-wheel-drive UKL architecture found under the aforementioned 1. One point the original report doesn't address is that, while a hatchback in the vein of the A3 would do well in Europe, it would fall flat on its face in the United States. That's why Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz all added a trunk to their Euro-flavored hatches for American buyers who prefer three-box sedans. Jaguar would either need to do the same, meaning it would replace two sedans with a hatchback turned into a sedan, or it would end up giving up thousands of sales in one of the world's largest car markets, which would be counterintuitive. Another possibility floated by Autocar is replacing the XE (pictured) and the XF with a compact sedan described as eco-focused.