No X-Type hangover for XE

A small but growing number of deposits for the vital new XE luxury compact sedan months before its local on-sale date has helped convince Jaguar Australia that any hangover from its poorly received predecessor, the X-Type, is either minimal or a sign of resistance to buying a car launching initially with engines soon to be superseded.

The XE made its Australian debut at an invite-only function at the Albert Park grand prix circuit on Thursday night, but will not go on-sale until August.

Pricing and equipment specifics have not yet been released, but as reported here, Jaguar intends to take on the German heavyweights of the class and in particular the BMW 3 Series, with a four-tiered model range that includes one turbo-diesel and two turbo-petrol four-cylinder engines and a range-topping supercharged V6.

New Jaguar Land Rover Australia managing director Matthew Wiesner wouldn't disclose how many orders had been received so far for XE, but admitted surprise that interest was generating so far out with no specific pricing and equipment information released.

"Some of our key dealers in metro markets are into double figures even though we are a number of months away from launch," he told motoring.com.au. "People are aware from a competitive perspective where we are going to be.

"It is so early in the process I am a bit surprised we are starting to see that sort of number."

The XE is the successor to the X-Type, which was tasked with the job of taking on the Germans a generation ago and lead a dramatic surge in sales for the then Ford-owned company.

But that car never found true acceptance among premium buyers because of its Mondeo underpinnings. Australia was one of the few markets anywhere in the world where the X-Type met sales projections, according to Jaguar. Launched as an all-wheel drive in 2000, the X-Type was later offered as the first – and so far only – Jaguar front-wheel drive before the production tap was turned off early in 2009.

Jaguar, now owned by Indian industrial giant Tata, argues the XE is a completely different proposition because it has been developed from the ground up to be a sports saloon and is underpinned by a brand new aluminium-intensive modular architecture and sophisticated suspension system.

The architecture will also underpin the new XF /news/2013/large-passenger/jaguar/xf/jaguars-xf-to-migrate-to-aluminium-38884 that will launch in New York and next year's F-Pace cross-over and play a key role in driving Jaguar towards 200,000 sales in 2020 from around 80,000 sales in 2014. A substantial boost is also expected in Australia, where Jaguar managed just 1167 registrations in 2014.

Wiesner argued the significant gap between the XE and X-Type in terms of engineering and concept prevented backlash, as did the Tata vision for Jaguar versus the Ford vision.

"Their [Ford's] view of what Jaguar was is a damn sight different to what it is today," Wiesner said. "The view of the role that Jaguar plays within JLR is about how it must be a driver's car and I think that answers that question.

"Was X-Type a drivers' car or was it a version of compact luxury and prestige? It certainly wasn't a driver's car, this [XE] is all about being a driver's car.

"Jaguar basically now has no connection to what the X-Type was or what the S-Type [the XF predecessor also launched during blue oval ownership] was or what those Ford versions of a Jaguar might have been."

The XE is also the first home for Jaguar's new generation of modular Ingenium engines, but will launch in Australia only with the turbo-diesel 2.0-litre. The 2.0 turbo-petrols are Ford sourced but will be replaced in 2016, while the supercharged V6 is to be phased out in favour of an Ingenium straight six, although no timeframe has been publicly set. A 4.0-litre V8 Ingenium is also expected at some stage.

But Wiesner dismissed the prospect of all bar the most tech-focused buyers waiting for the Ingenium engines to arrive.

"There will be those who are far more tech savvy in regards to what those engines mean in regards to their performance from an economic sense and so forth. There will be some people who want to drive this car for what it stands for physically and emotionally, who won't be."

"We will treat it as a constant upgrade ... through the life of XE as we move forward from launch."