2012 Jaguar XE

Image courtesy of Autocar

This 2012 model will be Jaguar's first new sports car since the E-Type, a full 36 years ago. It is being targeted specifically at the Porsche Boxster, so that in September at the Frankfurt Auto Show it will upstage Porsche's new 911. An ambitious target, but Jaguar is on a bit of a roll at the moment.

The car has been styled so that its appearance reflects the fact that it is made entirely of aluminium. Jaguar has created the car with a lightweight theme, much like the XK, only smaller. The styling has apparently been inspired by the E-Type, rather than being a modern interpretation of it.

An entirely new roadster platform has been created for the XE, as it is shorter than the XK by 450mm, but about as wide. Most of the length has been cut from behind the seats and behind the rear wheels, giving the XE a look distinctly similar to the E-Type that has proved very popular over time - the long bonnet, short boot layout.

To ensure that the convertible is structurally sound and handles very well, Jaguar has riveted and pressed together the aluminium panels and added aluminium extrusions in the centre section of the car, between the bonnet and the boot where convertibles are at their weakest. Relatively the car is still not that lightweight, though - at 1.5 tonnes it is 50kg heavier than the Boxster and for a car this size that is fairly hefty.

Jaguar has not yet revealed whether it will sell a coupe version, as the concept will be a convertible, but cars like the Nissan 370Z have sold well, so the reasoning is there for Jaguar to make one.

The car will use V6 engines, either naturally aspirated or supercharged, although a four-cylinder petrol turbocharged engine could be added as well. The car will have an 8 speed automatic gearbox with start/stop technology, so its range should be impressive. So far there has been no word on a diesel unit.

A high performance model will be added, presumably called the XE-R in keeping with Jaguar's past models, with a V8 engine. However, Jaguar will be revising its model naming so the car may not even be called the XE, it is simply the codename for now.