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NEWS
Jaguar ‘product revolution' starts here
F-TYPE roadster the first in a series of all-new models from JaguarJaguar’s all-new F-TYPE roadster marks the start of a new model bonanza that will include the F-TYPE coupe, its first crossover and a born-again BMW 3 Series rival.
Speaking at the Australian launch of the F-TYPE in Sydney this week, Jaguar Land Rover Asia Pacific Managing Director David Blackhall said the F-TYPE was the first in a series of additional models from the British brand.
“We’re on the cusp of a product revolution,” he said. “We’re looking hard at what we can do with Jaguar – we’d be stupid if we weren’t.
“There are few opportunities to be at the crossroads when a company changes course. We’re in an era when we’re inventing new segments for the brand.”
Jaguar is yet to formally confirm the F-TYPE coupe for production, despite the fact a fixed-roof F-TYPE coupe was spied at the Nurburgring last month and that the original C-X16 concept that heralded the F-TYPE was in fact a coupe.
However, confirming our report from May this year, when Jaguar sources told motoring.com.au the F-TYPE coupe would debut by the end of this year, Blackhall said the F-TYPE coupe would (again) be revealed in concept form at the Frankfurt motor show in September.
The final F-TYPE coupe production car -- which is now expected to cost more than the roadster when it arrives here in the second half of 2014, in the same way Porsche’s Cayman is priced higher than the Boxster – will then be revealed at the Tokyo show in November.
Asked why it chose to release the roadster version first, Blackhall said: “It’s seen as the most iconic sports car -- top down, two seats – it’s a more powerful statement.
“[Jaguar design chief] Ian Callum is a fan of roadsters. When the coupe comes along, it’ll be a further design statement. He’s very firm on the convertible having integrity of its own.
“We’re going to show a [F-TYPE coupe] concept at Frankfurt and out of that we’ll decide where we go with it.”
Naturally, Jaguar will eventually offer a whole family of F-TYPE models beyond the three variants of the roadster released in Australia this week (V6, V6 S and V8 S), potentially including a range-topping R-S or GT version powered by something like the 405kW/680Nm supercharged 5.0-litre V8 seen in the recent PROJECT 7 design study.
In fact, the regional Jaguar chief said he personally believed the F-TYPE coupe would make the ideal basis for a one-make global Jaguar motorsport series that could even come Down Under.
“If you’ve got a [F-TYPE] coupe and you want credibility you’ve got to turn a wheel in anger.
“The Carrera Cup works brilliantly for Porsche. For $300,000 the cars are an amazing brand statement. If you had a Jaguar coupe... what a brand statement to make. To do something top of mind is the aim and it has to be global.
“Nobody’s written anything down and this is just me... but burn rubber in anger – that’s what I think we’ve got to do. If it happened somewhere else in the world we’d certainly try and jump on it.”
At the other end of the F-TYPE spectrum, Blackhall said he was not aware of plans to produce a four-cylinder version powered by either the Ford-sourced 2.0-litre turbo engine available here in the XF or Jaguar’s own new four-cylinder engine family to be produced in a new plant in Wolverhampton.
He also said that, despite earlier reports the XF Sportbrake wagon had been locked in for Australia in early 2014;, Jaguar is still establishing a local business case for the XF wagon.
“We were asked to look at it,” he said. “Our challenge is finding enough volume. We look at Mercedes and BMW [wagons] and we don’t have the share they have.”
Blackhall would not comment on reports that Jaguar would reveal plans to produce its first SUV and a belated successor for the unloved X-Type as early as the Frankfurt show.
But he made it clear both models were on the table and indicated they would be based on the same all-aluminium platform first seen under the new Range Rover.
“How could you not look at something we could do with a smaller car? Yes, we’ve said we’re looking at it. There’s a lot of action in the crossover segment, so we’d be mad not to look at it [too].
“We’ve got a very firm platform strategy – D7A for sedans and D7U for SUVs. Nobody else is committed to aluminium as much as we are, across two brands.
“Audi is a great example of what you can do [with a modular platform]...”
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Written byMarton Pettendy
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