The highly successful F-Pace is to become part of an SUV family. The smaller Jaguar E-Pace will be arrive in 2018, followed by the electric I-Pace.
The E-Pace is due to be officially unveiled in London on 13th July and will target the likes of the BMW X1 and Audi Q3 in the currently mushrooming premium compact SUV market – sales of the X1 alone are up by almost half this year. Jaguar has indicated that E-Pace prices are expected to start from around £28,500.
Teaser images released on Twitter by Jaguar suggest that the E-Pace will have more distinct lines compared to its larger sister – Jaguar director of design Ian Callum has been quoted as dubbing the E-Pace as a “combination of sports car looks with Jaguar performance.”
Front-wheel drive?
Industry sources suggest that the newcomer will be built on the same architecture as the Range Rover Evoque and the Discovery Sport of sister brand Land Rover. As such it will likely be offered in both front and all-wheel-drive formats, as are its rivals from Audi and BMW but few compact crossovers in the mainstream market. If so it will be the first front-wheel-drive Jaguar since the X-Type last built in 2009.
Powertrains will all be from Jaguar Land Rover’s Ingenium family built at the brand’s new Wolverhampton plant. They are also expected to all be 2.0-litre units, possibly ranging from 161 to 250hp. The E-Pace is also thought to be a strong candidate for Jaguar’s first hybrid powertrain, a diesel-electric unit.
The I-Pace will launch after the E-Pace, an all all-electric SUV built on completely new architecture. With the three SUVs giving Jaguar a much stronger offering in one of the strongest growth sectors in the market, the brand expects to continue progress that has already seen global sales leap by some 83% in the first quarter of 2017.