1990 Jaguar Xjs Base Convertible 2-door 5.3l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Jaguar hints at what might become of XK after F-Type's arrival

Jaguar may move the company's XK further upmarket following the introduction of its forthcoming F-Type. The newcomer to the range easily shoulders the burden of carrying the Jaguar sportscar mantle, freeing up the XK to evolve in another direction. While speaking with Autocar, Jaguar Design Director Ian Callum said there's an opportunity to grow the grand tourer both in size and luxury.
Whether that means the vehicle will retain its two-plus-two seating configuration or swell to offer buyers even more space remains to be seen. Either way, the future will likely see the XK soften its claws moving forward. And that's no bad thing. Jaguar has a long history of building luxurious grand tourers more content to soak up miles of highway than bounce from apex to apex.
What else is in store for the brand? Callum seems to have kept his cards close to his chest, refusing to acknowledge ongoing rumors of a Jaguar crossover beyond saying the brand "had to take notice" of the popularity of the luxury SUV market.

Jaguar E-Pace has an F-Type-inspired interior

Jaguar continues to test its new small crossover, tentatively dubbed E-Pace, and that means our spy photographers continue to capture it in the wild. This time, we got some photos of the interior. From what we can see, it follows in the footsteps of the the F-Type sports car, rather than Jaguar's sedans and larger F-Pace crossover. From the air vents down, the center stack gently slopes toward the shifter. It also has a large grab handle on the passenger side like that in the F-Type. This also makes the center stack feel more driver-centric. The shifter is also F-Type-inspired. While the Jaguar sedans and the F-Pace use a motorized dial that rises from the center console for shifting, the F-Type uses a conventional lever, as does this E-Pace. These interior design choices seem to indicate that Jaguar will market this E-Pace as being a sportier Jaguar than its existing lineup. Our spy photographer also caught this E-Pace prototype with the hatch up. This clearly shows that the E-Pace will have a radically raked rear window. Matched with the voluptuous rear fenders, the E-Pace should have a very aggressive look. As a side note, the open hatch also reveals that there are at least one or two members of the Jaguar team that like Budweiser. We still expect a reasonably long wait until the E-Pace makes its full debut, likely sometime next year at the earliest. We're also expecting the crossover to have a front-wheel-drive-based all-wheel-drive system like the Range Rover Evoque, and it may even use the Evoque platform. While not a bad platform or drive system, most any car enthusiast or journalist would agree that a rear-wheel drive platform would be more naturally sporty and in keeping with this car's interior and possible marketing. Related Video:

Jaguar may join the FWD, small-car parade

Was it right for Chevrolet to detune the 1975 Corvette's base engine to 165 horsepower? Was Aston Martin wrong to make the Toyota iQ-based Cygnet? Is BMW crazy to be testing the new 1 Series with three-cylinder engines and front-wheel drive? It seems now, just as in the 1970s and 1980s, that emissions regulations and social considerations are driving some automakers to adopt unbefitting practices to maintain acceptance in the eyes of governments and consumers. Jaguar has jumped on the bandwagon, and is considering development of small, frugal, front-wheel-drive cars to help lower Jaguar Land Rover's average vehicle CO2 levels in light of tightening European emissions regulations, Autocar reports.
By 2020, the European Union expects the model range of every manufacturer to average 95 grams per kilometer, which is a new law passed by the European Parliament in April. Manufacturers who make more than 300,000 vehicles per year must meet these targets, and JLR is expected to be producing up to 700,000 vehicles per year by then. CO2 regulations after 2020 will only get stricter, as EU politicians already are talking about lowering CO2 levels to between 68 g/km and 78 g/km. (To put that in perspective, Autocar posits that driving a fully charged electric vehicle in Europe produces about 75 g/km when factoring in the power-generation infrastructure.)
Jaguar has some choices here, but so far they all have drawbacks. It could develop a new, compact chassis architecture for a line of compact vehicles, but the investment required for such a project could be prohibitively expensive. Jaguar has been looking into using the Land Rover Evoque platform for a small SUV, Autocar reports, but Land Rover brand manager John Edwards raises issue with such a plan, saying it may not be financially feasible.