Jaguar XS, A BMW 3-Series & Mercedes C-Class Rival To Be Revealed

By Ganesh

Published: Wednesday, February 19, 2014, 13:46 [IST]

Tata Motors owned Jaguar is getting ready to enter the high volume luxury car segment with the launch of an entry level premium vehicle. This new sedan, speculated to be known as the XS, will be revealed in full production form this year.

Jaguar had confirmed last year that it would launch an entry level model in the same segment as the BMW 3-Series, Mercedes C-Class and Audi A4 in 2015. Jaguar's Head of Design, Ian Callum has now told AutoExpress that instead of previewing a concept version first the company will directly showcase the production version this year before it is launched next year.

The Jaguar XS is then likely to make its first public debut at the Paris Auto Show which is in October. The XS could be shown either in a four door sedan, two door coupe or convertible form.

Jaguar XS will be built on the new, lightweight iQ platform that's previewed in the C-X17 crossover concept that we saw earlier this month at the Auto Expo. The entry level Jag will also not be a smaller version of the XF, but will have some similarities.

To power the new car Jaguar will use a new range of 2.0 liter, four cylinder petrol and diesel engines. Also, these engine will be made available in both fuel efficient (sub 100 g/km of CO2) and high performance (300 km/h top speed) versions.

The automaker is also said to be considering Hybrid powertrains for the Jaguar XS.