The Jaguar XE had only recently been through a facelift, and the XF will follow it later in the year. The future of both models remains vague, and evidence suggests that a rather unexpected newcomer may soon send them to retirement.
First, the Jaguar factory in Castle Bromwich where both the XE and the XF are currently produced will soon be retrofitted for EV and hybrid vehicle production. Second, Jaguar-branded cars are losing sales, prompting the marque to reconsider its product range.
Third, according to the new Jaguar Design Director Julian Thomson, what the company needs right now is to design a few compact-sized cars to attract younger audiences and women. This may be a sedan or perhaps even a hatchback.
Having said that, the British automaker currently lacks the technological platform to build such a car upon. Rumors circulated a year ago that Jaguar wanted to license an RWD chassis from BMW to use for it’s a-Pace and B-Pace models, but that’s about it.
Launching a five-door hot hatch could potentially boost global sales considerably: the premium hatchback market enjoys around 800,000 annual sold units in Europe alone. The main downside to this idea is the fact that Jaguar is hardly familiar with this automobile design. The R-D6 Concept unveiled in 2003 and shown in the gallery and the video here was its latest attempt at a hatchback.
Should the company go through with this decision, the all-electric XJ will remain the only sedan on its lineup.