SPY PICS: Jaguar F-Pace SUV snared

Here's a first look at the Jaguar F-Pace, the all-aluminium SUV developed by Jaguar on the same iQ[AI] platform as the new XE sedan.

Set to be powered by Jaguar Land Rover's new Ingenium range of engines, which will be built in a new high-tech plant outside Wolverhampton in the UK, the F-Pace is basically the production version of the C-X17 design study developed originally for the Frankfurt motor show in 2013.

Since that show, when Adrian Hallmark, Jaguar's global brand director, told motoring.com.au that the concept car was very close to production-ready, the manufacturer has confirmed that the car would enter series production. Testing commenced last year, but that vehicle as reported at the time was a mule mocked up to look like a Land Rover Freelander/Discovery Sport.

The spy shots shown here are actual pre-production models of the F-Pace, a name chosen prior to the Detroit Motor Show, and met with arched eyebrows all around the world. Headlights are very much in the current Jaguar style, and the camouflage for the rear is understood to be concealing the rear seat, which, it is believed, will be available in four- and five-seat configurations when the SUV goes on sale next year.