Hybrid Jaguar supercar cancelled

Jaguar's high-tech hybrid supercar, the C-X75, has been canned. Due to a weak economic climate in Europe and development dollars urgently needed for mass market vehicles, even a limited run of the £1 million ($A1.5 million) supercars is out of reach.

The British car maker had originally planned a limited run of around 200 vehicles, which were set for a 2014 roll out, but as Jaguar's Global Brand Director Adrian Hallmark explained, the C-X75 has now been boned.

"We feel we could make the car work, but looking at the global austerity measures in place now, it seems the wrong time to launch an £800,000 to £1 million supercar," Mr Hallmark told the UK's Autocar.

"This is backed up by other products from us that people are screaming out for," he said, asserting that research and development dollars were being prioritised for Jaguar's other projects. These include the new small premium sedan to rival the BMW 3 Series and Audi A4 that would slot in underneath the XF. That car is expected to become Jag's best-selling model.

Cracks began appearing in the Jaguar C-X75's armour back in October 2012, when Jaguar Land Rover’s global operations boss, Phil Popham, told motoring.com.au the fire-breathing Jag supercar was not signed and sealed for production.

Designed to take on similarly-priced hybrid supercars such as Ferrari's F70 Enzo replacement, the McLaren P1 and Porsche 918 Spyder, the Jaguar C-X75 was developed with input from Cosworth and the Williams F1 Team.

Jaguar is not ready to write off the research and development already carried out. It says it is committed to employing the advanced hybrid technology, potentially in an existing sportscar such as the F-Type.

Hallmark also suggested the hybrid systems could be adapted to give a three-cylinder engine six-cylinder levels of power.

First revealed as a concept car at the 2010 Paris motor show, the Jaguar C-X75 started life powered by a quartet of electric motors (one at each wheel) hooked up to a pair of gas turbines. The powerplant later evolved into an F1-inspired 1.6-litre twin-charged four-cylinder unit backed up by two electric motors. Its output was rated at roughly 375kW, ensuring explosive acceleration -- to the tune of 2.8 seconds for the 0-100km/h split.

Despite breathtaking performance, the car could run on electric power for up to 60km, giving an estimated effective fuel consumption rating of around 4.0L/100km.

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