AIMS: Small sedan or crossover for Jaguar?

Jaguar seems currently beguiled by product portfolio ping pong.

Barely two months ago the company's Design Director, Ian Callum, strongly insinuated that the prestige brand would need to get into an SUV-style small car, just to meet broader demand from markets such as China and the USA.

Six months before that Jaguar management in Paris poured cold water all over the idea of developing an SUV badged as a Jaguar. After all, the company's sibling, Land Rover, is already taking care of business in that market segment. A similar vehicle launched by Jaguar would cut across vehicles such as the Range Rover Evoque, set to debut in Australia at AIMS tomorrow, priced from below 50 grand ($49,995).

In Australia for the Evoque's unveiling at the Australian International Motor Show (AIMS), Phil Popham, Global Director of Sales Operations for Jaguar Land Rover, confirmed that Jaguar would build a new sub-XK sports car — rumoured to be named XE. In the same breath, Popham confirmed that there would be another smaller car to slot in below the XF. It's fair to assume the new car would be around or below the size of the retro-styled X-TYPE (pictured) — a car that was lucrative in Australia, but practically nowhere else.

"We will have a small sports car in our range in that [five-year] timeframe, and we will re-enter the small [sedan] segment..." he confirmed.

"Whether that's a sedan or that's a crossover, there's still some work to be done in that, but we'll be expanding the product range..."

A new car, of similar size, will need to be a credible alternative to others in the same segment; cars such as Audi A4, BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class. Even the next-gen Lexus IS, a new Saab 9-3 on the way and Volvo's S60/V60 will need to be considered rivals.

This was where some say the X-TYPE failed — as a "product offering", to use Popham's expression. Relatively short-lived, the X-TYPE followed in the steps of the S-TYPE — both retro-styled cars that took Jaguar's name for cutting-edge design and concreted over it.

"I wasn't part of the analysis of the X-Type..." said Popham, "but I do understand what you need to do to actually develop a business case for a product..."

By implication, the X-TYPE was out of synch with "segment shifts, consumer behaviour, consumer wants..." according to Popham.

The Jaguar Land Rover boss said the X-TYPE was simply not "the right product for the segment" and the company's "volume aspirations" were also unrealistic.

Both the S-TYPE and X-TYPE were caught out by changing consumer tastes, after the retro fad died a timely and rapid death. If Jaguar is planning to catch a ride on what is seen in some quarters as a new fad — crossover SUVs of the X1 and Q3 ilk — you can be sure Jaguar will exercise far more caution this time around. Popham makes this very point with his following words.

"These are very early stages at the moment," he said of the future small-car product. "Whatever that car is, in that segment, there's still a lot of work to do in terms of the definition of process —where consumer trends are moving..."

But Jaguar could always follow the example of Audi and BMW, who have built their crossover SUVs on the same platforms as their small cars (the X1 is built largely on the platform of the current 320i Touring, for instance). Once the platform is developed there's no reason why the new small car can't be both a sedan and a crossover — as Ford Australia has done with Falcon and Territory in large cars.

Perhaps that's the game: Jaguar won't offer the choice of a sedan or a crossover; maybe the company will develop both...

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