Jaguar has developed a new platform, a new engine family, a new infotainment central and new factories to build all this. And why spoiling the newborn that much? Basically, because the company’s future depends on it. Despite XF and F-Type turned out to do great against the respective competitors, in absolute numbers their sales are too low to keep the company in the black. Besides, considering that the British have always wanted to be as competitive as the German trio, XE ended becoming the latest materialization of “the best defense is a good offense”: you are meeting a sedan whose main targets are Audi A4, BMW 3-Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class. Yes, the same ones that have been envied for decades by pretty much any other automakers.
The difference, however, is that XE’s potential for such task is impressive. It was obvious that its crowd-pleaser nature would ban any eccentricities from the design department, but the result is far from neutral or boring. Jaguar’s latest design language was applied with bigger freedom, because XJ is a high-luxury car and XF is an older project which was only facelifted. The front shows its F-Type inspiration even at the non-sporty variations, while the sides feature an excellent balance: long front and rearward cabin aid to a sporty look, while the rear is just long enough to avoid resembling four-door coupés. At the rear, there are multiple exhaust pipes, a discreet spoiler and particularly interesting tail lights: when lit, the LEDs remind of E-Type’s lights.
XE’s also draws attention to its construction. Structural and many external parts are made of aluminum, whose low weight aids to both fuel economy and dynamic performance – the only exceptions favoring steel were trunk lid and rear floor, and only to reach a 50:50 weight distribution between axles. JLR already builds the current Range Rovers in aluminum, and will do the same with the forthcoming Jaguar’s first-ever SUV and another Range Rover variation. Besides, XE will have a nice advantage compared to those sedans: they are already heavier due to the steel structure, and will be even more after being adapted to comply with Euro 6 standards, which it already does. Official numbers state 1,474 kg, 99 g/km of CO2 and 31.88 kpl of diesel – “the most efficient Jaguar ever”, to quote the company.
The cabin, in turn, is much more likely to impress you slowly, one detail at a time, than right from the first look. The central console fuses its vertical and horizontal sections into a single, “L”-shaped piece that is wide enough to house from the infotainment central’s touchscreen to the cupholders in an elegant way. The doors, in turn, were designed along with the dashboard, in order to dissimulate where each one ends and the other begins and make the room look bigger. Even bigger, actually, because XE offers a 2,835-mm wheelbase in the middle of a 4,671-mm overall length. Such size is the result of “a combination of over 1,200 computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations and over eight million hours of processor time” which ended in a Cd as low as 0.26.
When it comes to equipments, XE’s modern conception appears once again. There will be automatic parking, head-up display, electronic safety systems, a ten-speaker, 380-W Meridian stereo and a low-speed cruise control created with Land Rover’s know-how acquired with Terrain Response. It will be focused in helping front-wheel drivers to deal with slippery surfaces with a rear-wheel-driven car – yes, XE has gone all the way with the intention to fight the German trio. Another great arrival is the InControl infotainment system, debuted with Discovery Sport: the company claims it is significantly better than its predecessor. But if you think this will be a quiet city sedan, which is as roomy and efficient as slow and boring, you are wrong. Deeply wrong.
The diesel options come from the all-new Ingenium family, which features countless improvements on robustness, fuel saving, weight reduction and performance: XE will use a four-cylinder 2.0L in two output levels. If you want to go faster, XE S has borrowed F-Type’s supercharged 3.0L V6, as well as its 335 hp and 332 lb-ft (0 to 100 kph in 4.9 seconds and 250 kph of top speed). It uses Bilstein dampers, upgraded differential and eight-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters. Not enough? Then your car will be XE R: this one will come later, but equipped with JLR’s supercharged 5.0L V8 and an electronic differential. If this sedan made you think twice before going to a German dealership, you will like to know it goes on sale in the second trimester of 2015.