Frankfurt 2013 : Jaguar to introduce 3 Series rival

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Jaguar

Jaguar will launch a compact saloon to compete with the Audi A4, BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class in 2015. It will be the first production car to use the company’s new aluminium architecture, known as iQ[Al], and will be built at a facility currently under construction within the Land Rover factory at Solihull, Birmingham.

Global Product Marketing Director, Steven de Ploey, says it will be the most efficient car of its type in the world and will expand the appeal of Jaguar to a new audience. There will be versions with CO2 emissions as low as 99g/km and others capable of 186mph. The engines will include new four-cylinder units to be supplied by the plant which Jaguar is building at Wolverhampton – that is due to come on stream in 2015.

‘We think 90% of customers will be new to Jaguar. They will be younger, more cosmopolitan and include a higher percentage of women and business users,’ de Ploey said.

The introduction of a compact sports saloon is the next phase in Jaguar’s three-step plan to modernise itself. ‘We laid the foundations with the XK in 2006, began to maximise the range with four-cylinder engines, a supercharged V6, all-wheel drive and an estate in 2011 and this year began to launch breakthrough products like the F-Type,’ added de Ploey.

‘The competitors are cost-driven. Our new sedan will be more progressive, more accessible and more relevant to buyers. It is in development now. The new iQ[Al] architecture will give Jaguar the flexibility to build a vast range of new cars from a common basis and make the company the world leader in all-aluminium construction, according to vehicle line director Kevin Stride. “No-one matches Jaguar expertise in aluminium construction,’ he says. ‘It is knowledge shared with Land Rover and enables a choice of other technology not previously available.’

Vehicle Line Director, Kevin Stride, said the aluminium technology is, ‘not a platform but a set of principles, ideas and philosophies – a toolbox for us to work from.’

The core section runs from the crash structures at the front through to the engine mounting and on to the bulkhead ahead of the passenger cell. There will be all-new double wishbone front suspension and a multi-link rear axle, both fully tunable to suit whatever kind of car Jaguar wants to build. The architecture is fully modular so that it can be used for compact or large cars and is suitable for rear- or all-wheel drive. Stride says the emphasis will be on refinement, ride comfort, handling, grip and steering precision.

‘It will give us access to more markets, more segments and allow us to respond faster to market demands,’ he added.

Keith Adams

42 Comments

  1. I am so pleased to know that the ” sedan will be more management speak gobbledegook” . Why do all these spokesmen have to speak like daleks ? It does nothing for confidence in the product

  2. Now this is what I’m getting excited about.

    Nearly bought an X type except I couldn’t get one without a CEL nor looked like it had been taxiied…

    Few years time I’ll be looking to get a safe, family, economical car, likely to end my bangernomics run, this will be on the shopping list.

    I just hope they do it properly, even if it looks mini-XJ with a proper fastback hatchback (why have more companies not copied the boot arrangement on the Skoda Superb?), rather than a 2-box like the Lexus CT.

  3. @3 why do people always have to find a negative? How can you say this impacts on your confidence in the product? Hilarious.

  4. This is all great stuff read. I’m glad we’re seeing more and more of the real Jaguar-this is the kind of product and thinking which made them so unstoppable in the 60’s.

    @ 2 I guess it does…it could be a modern day P6 😀

  5. It’s amazing that 2 years ago it seemed likely that one of Solihull or Castle Bromwich would shut, this new saloon has the potential to really increase Solihull production levels to unprecedented levels.

    It’ll be interesting what platform they use for the future Freelanders/Evoques, as they are on a completely different transverse engined platform, and built at Halewood.

  6. To think all the so called experts in the City, the government and the British press said Jaguar was dead and not worth saving. This is a remarkable success story, this country could have its own BMW, if only the short termist idiots who run this country had shown the same commitment to long term investment the Indians did.

  7. Great news for Jaguar Land Rover and a model that will undoubtedly have a huge impact on Jaguar’s overall sales and the perception of the brand overall.

    As already posted on another thread, I hope we will also see a more ‘lively’ colour range for this Jaguar saloon as the current palette, as evidenced with the F Type, is rather sombre. Confident colours equals confidence in the showroom, in my eyes.

  8. Cant wait to see it in the flesh. Back in the 1980’s Austin Rover came up the the strap line “now we’re motoring”. We know that was another false dawn but seemingly there’s no holding JLR back… storming ahead…

  9. #5.The answer, Carl , is that if the spokesman for the manufacturer of the product has nothing to say about it except empty meaningless blether , it does not give confidence in the product. A proper presentation would have drawn attention to the technical advances which it is said to contain, rather than deal only in weasel words such as progressive, accessible, relevant, all of which are utterly meaningless in an automotive context. Can you imagine Lyons or Heynes spouting forth such meaningless drivel ?

  10. This is the big one, the one I’ve been waiting for. If it hits the spot like other recent JLR products then the sky is the limit…

  11. Great news, something that will give the boring 3 series a sleepless night with any luck.

    I doff my cap to the TATA family for showing us how to steward a company which the UK for some reason is unable to do without ballsing the job up.

    Even today, it was announced that some 1700 jobs will be created with a potential spin off of a further 24,000 jobs in the supply chain and components industry.

    I wont be rolling out the UK PLC platitudes because it does not exist. What does exist is the surrounding economies and communities that will benefit from these jobs and keeps towns and shops alive and lets folk stand on their own two feet and be proud.

    As a footnote, we do indeed export more cars than we ever have but with a tiny amount of workers in comparison to our car industry heyday.

    To me, every job in this sector is welcome and to our shame the only sector propagated for the last two decades or more is the services and financial services industries mainly run by spivs and thieves.

    At last we are getting real jobs for real workers.

    • The Germans sleep soundly on I’m afraid whilst the “boring” models referred to have all now been refreshed several times leaving the Jag looking old before its time and the news is all about 5000 JLR layoffs. Business as usual then

      • Unfortunately, Jaguar repeated the same mistakes with the XE as they made with the X-type. Namely, a lack of interesting derivatives that would act as a halo for the rest of the range. They’ve made what looks a rep mobile but on a bespoke, aluminium platform. I think it’s great and it drives like a dream but I can see why many would still be bamboozled by the ‘safe’ German option or even an Alfa Giulia. Third time lucky for JLR in this sector?

  12. Manual gearbox please !

    I am prevented from buying any modern Jag due to the automatic gearbox only situation.

  13. @5 that is not the answer Christopher. We are (I assume) knowledgable enthusiasts on the subject matter, some of us are also engineers/commercial types who CURRENTLY work in the automotive sector as a major supplier to JLR. The weasel words you refer to are marketing wordage which is as important to your average buyer as are the technical/styling aspects are to commentators on here. Stop living in the past guys, you can’t have it both ways.

  14. Oh, and tata said this car is not aimed at taking on BMW,Audi or Mercedes or that its about production volumes-according to the story on Radio 4 this morning.

    But i think it will.

  15. This is good and would be an automatic choice for me over a 3 Series or Audi,

    But the 3 Series is a formidable product that both Merc and VAG have failed to successfully better, so I hope Tata are prepared to go the whole way with investment etc to take it on.

    However the use of a new aluminium platform etc does look like they are serious to do the job.

  16. @14 nicely put.
    @17 I cant remember thieves in Jags being chased by the Sweeney. I remember every executive having a Jag on their car park.

  17. Absolutely fantastic news!

    My only negative comment would be JLR are playing catch up, but this will put the ball squarely in their court as they’ve theoretically had the time and expertise to pull apart every car that will be trying to compete with the new models.

    MG marketing, this is how it’s done chaps!

    The career security and development, not to mention new opportunities, across so many varied industries all over the country this will feed is a much needed kick in the pants we’ve been crying out for since we lost MG Rover and slid into these dark days.

    I couldn’t care less if Jaguar were manufacturing 3 wheeler electric cars, if they can do it better than the rest, sell more than the rest and provide more opportunities for people in this country.

    Jaguar have chosen not to sweat it out wearing the same old cigar smelling sheepskin lined leather coat of a two car model range but have finally embraced change, Continuous Improvement IS a good thing!

  18. “‘We think 90% of customers will be new to Jaguar. They will be younger, more cosmopolitan and include a higher percentage of women and business users,’ Steven de Ploey, Jaguar’s product and marketing director said.”

    that’s what they said about the X-Type, a car that I really liked. However, it was not a commercial success, so good luck this time round.

  19. This will be Jaguars 200 series, the question is will
    It be the R8 or R3, my fear is it will be the latter and flush any prestige the brand has straight down the loo

  20. I still think the X Type was a good car and was bold of Jaguar to launch it back in 2001 (doesn’t seem that long ago). I always hoped they would re-enter that segment and now it seems it’s going to happen. Can’t wait to see images of the next baby Jag… if we can call it “baby”

  21. @20 & @26. Yes thought so too. Wasn’t one a gold S Type that went through the cardboard boxes at the end of the brilliant chase?

  22. One of those 90% of customers new to Jaguar will be me , as long as i am still in gainful employment in around 2016/17. Cant wait to see this car!!

  23. @2 Indeed – JLR are building a new assembly hall at Solihull to build this car and its iq[al] spin-offs. The last saloon (ok hatchback) to come out of a new plant on the Solihull site was the SD1. Hopefully this car will be perform rather better! Will the new Jag be better than the Germans? Probably, until the next BMW/Audi/Merc model refresh that is. But thats continuous improvement for you.

  24. My main concern is that they grow too fast. A steady long term growth strategy is a must. Ralph Speth and Tata seem to have a good handle on this but growth should be too peaky and exceed 10% a year. It’ll be much more sustainable that way.

  25. @32 Shouldnt grow too fast? – Its nearly 6 years since the last new, mainstream model – the XF was added to the range and that co-incided with the X Type being culled so represented no real growth. Jaguar have an enourmous amount of ground to make up on their rivals. Fast growth is inevitable if they want to be a serious player in these markets. Just look how BMW and Audis ranges have exploded in recent years. Everything from A1’s to X6’s. Rapid growth has done them no harm. I agree that once all these new vehicles have been launched a rolling programme of updates and replacements is vital. In this respect the glacial pace of XF develpment to date is rather worrying.

  26. @23
    This car will be an upmarket junior executive car, a 3 series competitor, and nothing like R3 or R8. If anything the Rover P6 or Triumph 2000 would be better comparisons…

    @34
    Yes, their engineering capability has been a bit inadequate, hence the slow rate of product launch when compared to their rivals, but they are expanding their engineering capabilities quickly now.

  27. @34 The glacial growth of the XF? the one that wins awards year on year and voted best executive car?

    The explosion of VAG and BMW group cars can also harm them,before long they will just be another Taxi.

    What would be the shame of having the forthcoming Mondeo over any german car?

  28. F brett sept 10 ,agree wit u 100%.I hope to be in a position to buy a new jag ,for several personal reasons,Although mg rover management responsible for the ill-fated bmw takeover [if they had stayed and continued co operation with Honda it would still be there producing very good cars]When bmw stopped the metro,i saw trouble.I, had 2 metros ,solid and fast,better than corsa/ fiesta @the time,Which did surprise me having checked the other 2 out I remember pulling the door shut on the metro in the dealers and instead of a tinny sound, a quiet thump and it felt solid , I bought 2 .Suddenly it did not get a good crash rating and instead of investing and fixing the problem they stoped production ,the beginning of the end.I would like a new jag ,sounds brill,if it passes the clunk test I will have one. It would also be fun to go on tour around Germany with lots of other jag converts,to show our german friends there is more to life than bmwaudimercedes.Trust us were british and were good too.

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