World premiere: Jaguar shows the new XE for the first time

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Must Mercedes, BMW, Audi fear the Jaguar XE?

World premiere: Jaguar shows the new XE for the first time-jaguar

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You can immediately recognize the new XE as a Jaguar, because the radiator grille is typical of the brand. In contrast to …

Source: Jaguar

World premiere: Jaguar shows the new XE for the first time-premiere But the XE is smaller than the XF and XJ models: With an exterior length of 4.67 meters, it competes in the middle class and meets the German top dogs Mercedes C-Class, BMW 3-Series and Audi A4. ">

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… However, the XE is smaller than the XF and XJ models: With an exterior length of 4.67 meters, it competes in the middle class and meets the German top dogs Mercedes C-Class and BMW …3 Series and Audi A4.

Source: Jaguar

World premiere: Jaguar shows the new XE for the first time-premiere

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The interior, here the sports equipment, does not come as a surprise to Jaguar customers. Everything is kept in simple elegance, the rotary knob for rests on the center console …the automatic. But the infotainment system is new, and the much-criticized Jaguar navigation is said to have improved significantly.

Source: Jaguar

World premiere: Jaguar shows the new XE for the first time-first

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Despite the sporty lines, the XE offers enough space for the head and knees inside. The trunk has a volume of 455 liters and the rear seat backs are (as in BMW and Mercedes) in proportion…Old 40/20/40 foldable.

Source: Jaguar

World premiere: Jaguar shows the new XE for the first time-world

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Jaguar Head of Design Ian Callum at the presentation of the XE in the specially built new workshop. 613 robots are working here to ensure that …

Source: Jaguar

World premiere: Jaguar shows the new XE for the first time-jaguar

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… a new XE can roll into the brightly lit final inspection every 78 seconds.

Source: Jaguar

A mid-range jaguar? That went wrong once before. But with the new XE Jaguar is pursuing a different strategy: It’s about a technical lead over the German competition.

UIt’s a bit flippant to say: The jag is back, Jaguar is back. After the not so glorious appearance of the X-Type between 2001 and 2009, Jaguar now has a mid-range car in its range that has a chance of surviving the almost overwhelming competition from German manufacturers.

The reason for Jaguar’s optimism can be found in Solihull, where the cars of the sister brand Land Rover are actually built. Here in the north-west of England, not far from Birmingham, a new factory building has been built, and it doesn’t just create a new mid-range sedan. Jaguar is building a fire accelerator here.

First of all, the XE should soon have an effect on the worldwide number of units, because one has not been represented in the middle class for five years and because the financial hurdle for a Jaguar purchase is reduced by a good 10,000 euros.

It doesn’t go below 36,500 euros

While the cheapest Jaguar so far was the almost five-meter-long XF, which is available from 45,900 euros, the XE will be available on the German market from 36,500 euros. That is still significantly more expensive than its direct competitors Audi A4 (from 28,100 euros), BMW 3 Series (from 29,350 euros) and Mercedes C-Class (from 33,558 euros), but firstly, Jaguar won’t go that far down with engine power – one There will be no answer to the BMW 316i, for example. And secondly, you can afford the more expensive material.

75 percent of the XE body is made of aluminum, which makes the car lighter. Unfortunately, Jaguar doesn’t say how easy it is before the world premiere at the Paris Salon in early October 2014. The engineer in charge, Mark White, only says that the body alone, at 342 kilograms, is the lightest in its class.

In any case, the bodyshell forms the basis for a completely new vehicle architecture, on which other cars will later be built. Jaguar‘s mid-range SUV has already been presented as the C-X17 concept study and has a good chance of benefiting from aluminum as the next production model.

And of the new generation of four-cylinder engines. Here, too, many details are still missing, but Jaguar will send a two-liter turbodiesel with 163 hp into the race, which achieves a standard consumption of 3.8 liters per 100 kilometers. No one can escape this specific number when visiting Solihull, it is repeated very often.

A big car with 99 grams of CO2

But if you look at the data sheet of the competition, you can also see that Jaguar is at the top here. Not far, but at least – the most efficient Mercedes C-Class consumes 4.0 l / 100 km, as does the Audi A4, and BMW carries the red lantern with the 320d Efficient Dynamics and 4.1 l / 100 km.

These are only nuances, of course, and they don’t even have to be noticeable in everyday life, but the number (and thus also the symbolic CO2 value of 99 grams per kilometer) is clear: Jaguar is ahead and has the task for Audi Bringing a new A4 in 2015, not made easier.

On the other side of the Jaguar engine range is the three-liter supercharged V7 with 340 hp, which is known from the F-type sports car, among other things. It brings the XE to the 250 km / h that one expects from its sporty rather than economical exterior.

The lines are not a big mystery, the radiator grille is widely recognizable as a Jaguar grill, and if you see it in the rearview mirror, you may quickly change lanes. Otherwise, the XE is drawn in a straight line and of restrained elegance, which is also continued in the interior.

The essential elements are known, the XE does not have a normal lever for engaging the eight-speed automatic gears, but the Jaguar-typical rotary knob lifts out of the center console (the economy diesel, by the way, has a six-speed manual gearbox). The connections between the door panels and the dashboard look even stronger than in the other Jaguar sedans, as if they surround the driver and front passenger, and the navigation system is new.

Finally, one would like to say, because infotainment is currently still considered a weak point in current Jaguar models. But like other automakers, Jaguar is not only changing the basis of the car with the XE, but is also introducing a completely new electronic architecture.

It’s called InControl, and it also follows the trend that the driver can integrate his smartphone apps into the car and also operate them on the screen in the cockpit. It has a diagonal of eight inches and works according to the principle known from smartphones. It also recognizes when the driver’s hand is approaching and then adjusts the image.

In addition, the XE can be operated remotely via mobile phone, says the electronics developer responsible, Peter Virk, and immediately explains what this is good for. “When I go shopping with my wife, we are often in different stores. When she’s back at the car first, she can call me and I’ll open the door for her from afar. ”Mrs. Virk will also benefit from this, since Mr. Virk may have already switched on the air conditioning – this can also be done via the cell phone , the air conditioning in the car can even be programmed seven days in advance.

The jaguar alone calls the police

These are stories that the still existing analog people always find a bit strange, but ultimately these are convenience functions, and convenience functions have still prevailed. And did we already say that in the event of theft, the car can automatically alert the police?

And of course the XE is peppered with additional electronic systems for an extra charge: emergency brake assistant, blind spot warning, warning of impending rear-end collisions, lane change assistant, traffic sign recognition, adaptive cruise control – and there is a head-up display, the image of which is beamed into the windshield by a laser beam, Jaguar promises never seen sharpness.

After a brief try-out in the new XE, the key was removed and the electronics could not yet be examined. But the interior made a good impression: pleasantly straightforward design, head and knee room fit, only the quality of workmanship still needs to improve.

It will, too, says chief designer Ian Callum. Because this currently only XE far and wide comes from an early pre-series stage – it is the red car that can now be seen everywhere in the photos.

Even weight distribution

Of course, Jaguar also says that they have developed a fantastic chassis, that the new car feels familiar after 50 meters, but can be shooed around the corner with great agility if necessary. In the absence of a test drive, we will leave this uncommented for the time being and only mention the key data: rear-wheel drive, as it should be. 50:50 weight distribution between the front and rear axles, that also speaks for the car.

Like all premium automakers, Jaguar Land Rover is also benefiting from the boom in China, so it is not that difficult to make a good forecast for the XE. He may not need the German market that badly for his global success. Still, it will be interesting to see if he can somehow impress the triumvirate of Mercedes, Audi and BMW.

It has more what it takes than its hapless predecessor. And also more than the larger Jaguar sedans XF and XJ. So far they have remained marginal in Germany, albeit extremely attractive. The XE will not become a mass product, but it has a chance to give Jaguar more exposure.

The trip to the presentation of the XE was supported by Jaguar. You can find our standards of transparency and journalistic independence at www.axelspringer.de/unabhaengigkeit

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