Luxurious new Jaguar XJ Coupe planned

Jaguar is set to replace the XK with a larger luxury GT car based on the next XJ saloon. Our exclusive images show how it could look.

The Jaguar XK will be quietly phased out in the summer, but Jaguar is already working on its more upmarket successor, set to be pitched as a larger 2+2 grand tourer to take on the Bentley Continental GT and new Mercedes S-Class Coupe.

Our exclusive images show how the model could take design cues from the F-Type and increase its dimensions, becoming more of an XJ Coupe than an oversized F-Type. 

A larger grille, chrome-ringed lower air intakes and horizontal instead of vertical headlights set it apart from its sportier brother, although the muscular rear wheelarches, flowing lines and wraparound tail-lamps tie the two cars together.

Although Jaguar sold around 54,000 XKs over its lifetime, only 4,000 found homes last year – largely because the faster F-Type has been taking sales from it. The new car will start from £100,000 to put daylight between it and the F-Type.

There’s likely to be a choice of supercharged V6 and V8 petrol engines, plus, for the first time, a six-cylinder diesel, while the platform is believed to be a stretched version of the F-Type’s aluminium architecture. Don’t expect to see the new GT for several years, though, as Jag enters one of the busiest periods in its history. 

With the F-Type Coupe and Convertible now on sale, its next new car will be the XE small saloon – due in mid-2015 with an all-new iQ[Al] aluminium architecture. Then, in early 2016, comes an SUV (below) using the same structure and previewed by the C-X17 concept.

Coupe and estate versions of the XE are expected in 2016, with an all-new iQ[Al]-based XF following towards the end of that year. This means we’ll have to wait until 2017 at least before we see a new XJ and the car shown here.

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2016 Jaguar crossover spied wearing a Range Rover Evoque body

Our spies have managed to snap new photos of a mysterious Jaguar / Land Rover prototype. We initially believed the model was a high-performance version of the Freelander successor but it now appears that it could be a test mule for Jaguar's crossover.

  

Nothing is official but the prototype is wearing a modified Range Rover Evoque body with a rectangular grille that mimics the XFand XJ. Interestingly, the prototype is a radical departure from previous mules which were based on the XF.

Jaguar hasn't said much about the crossover lately but it is expected to follow in the footsteps of the C-X17 concept which was introduced at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show. At the time, Jaguar confirmed the model rode on the iQ[Al] platform that will also

underpin the 2015 XE.

Engine options could be shared with the XE, so expect an assortment of four-cylinder Ingenium engines. There could also be a couple of V6 options but nothing is official as of yet.

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Stunning Jaguar SUV (C-X17), new colour, makes this a stunning car.

Seeing the Jaguar C-X17 moving under its own steam really brings to the fore just how striking its design is.

The concept may be full of rough edges but the packaging and character of this car is clear to see from behind the wheel. If Jaguar’s design team can deliver on the styling and the engineering team can deliver on this new aluminium-mix architecture then the big three German brands will seriously have to start watching their backs.

We waited forever to see a Jaguar SUV, then finally the Jaguar C-X17 concept arrived at the Frankfurt Motor Show earlier this year. Now, the blue paintwork of that original show car has been ditched in favour of silver, and Jaguar has allowed Auto Express behind the wheel ahead of the production car’s debut late in 2015.

It’s worth remembering that this is a hand-built concept so we’re not expecting the most refined driving experience in the world, but it’s great for showing off how the C-X17 will look. Sitting in the blazing Dubai sunshine it looks every inch a Jaguar, from its large XJ-inspired grille to the muscular rear wheelarches and narrow taillights borrowed from the F-Type.

The design team behind this concept is keen to see it through to production almost unchanged as well; as Julian Thomson, Advanced Design Director revealed: “we’re not in the business of letting customers down, we can’t show this concept and then come out with something that looks nothing like it.”

Step in to the cabin and you start to get a sense of what the C-X17 is about; it’s the four-seat layout and sporty F-Type steering wheel that reveal this isn’t so much an SUV but a dynamic crossover. You sit relatively low down so you feel a little more connected to the action than you do in a Range Rover.

Underneath the bonnet is the 3.0-litre supercharged V6 engine used to great effect in the F-Type but also available detuned in the XJ limo and XF. In the production car it would be bolted in to Jaguar’s new iQ[Al] aluminium architecture – set to underpin all future Jags except the sports cars – but here it’s a mixture of unique parts and XF leftovers.

Without any sound insulation the roar of the V6 is always with you and there’s no polish on the ride or steering but you really get the sense of being cocooned within the C-X17, much like you do in a sports car. That’s no accident, as design and engineering teams have worked together from day one to help create these proportions, including the long bonnet and a shallow glass area.

In terms of what a drive like this can actually teach us about how the C-X17 will drive, there’s actually very little to learn. But it is interesting to talk to the team behind the project and hear how they want the production version to be “the most dynamic, the most efficient and the best-looking” car in its class.

Those are ambitions that Jaguar holds for each one of its future line-up, and with a generous head of steam behind it, you wouldn’t bet against a seriously strong future for Jaguar, bolstered by models like the C-X17.

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