The long-awaited successor to the Jaguar X-Type is coming into focus as a new report is indicating the model could be launched by 2015, which still seems like forever for a car that arrived in 2001. Granted, it’s no longer on sale and has effectively been discontinued, but as Jaguar’s highest volume vehicle ever produced, it would seem vital to the company’s bottom-line and would make their recent effort at a volume seller, the XF 2.2D, look silly.
It’s clear that Jaguar needs a replacement for the X-Type more than ever, and for more reasons than we’ve just identified. It’s no longer simply about drawing in new buyers, as tightening emissions standards across the globe, and critically in some of Jag’s biggest markets, mean their current XF, XJ and XK models overshoot those targets. With this in mind, the ‘baby Jag’ would need to be especially efficient and desireable enough to sell in sufficient quantities to offset the thirst and associated flatulence of the larger X models.
Speculation suggests Jaguar’s designers and engineers are already hard at work on the new car, which will be smaller than direct competitors, BMW’s 3 Series and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class. An overall length of 4 495 mm has been cited by sources close to the car’s development, which would pit it against the smaller Audi A3 and the soon-to-be discontinued Mercedes-Benz CLC.
It’s suspected that power will come from Jaguar Land Rover’s all-new 3-cylinder 1.5-litre petrol, 1.8- and 2.0-litre petrol variants, as well as 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol and diesel options. Sophisticated new-generation eight and nine-speed automatic gearboxes are also thought to be on the cards. In a break from tradition, the X-Type successor is likely to be front-wheel drive and may even share its platform with the Range Rover Evoque.
It’s too early to speculate on the styling, but rest assured it’ll be a wind-cheating and correspondingly eco-friendly shape that will be characterised by a premium and executive look.
With a good few years still to go before the car reaches production, we have plenty of time to see this one play out. Expect a good deal of spy shots from the Nurburgring Nordschleife in the future.
