Jaguar announces keen pricing for new XE

JAGUAR Australia has kicked off its XE offensive nearly three months before the car’s launch in September, throwing down the price gauntlet to its main competitors with a $60,400 opening gambit.

The four-door mid-size sedan will arrive Down Under in September with three engines and in four specification levels, with more powerful variants – including an XE R and an SVO hotrod – to come.

Built around the high-tech, 75 per cent alloy RC5754 platform that it will share with the renewed XF due in 2016, the XE is the first of a three-pronged launch sequence aimed at adding volume and depth to the Jaguar line-up.

Riding on double wishbone-equipped front and multi-link rear suspension, the rear-wheel-drive XE will launch with a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine in two states of tune, a 2.0-litre Ingenium diesel and a supercharged V6 purloined from the F-Type sportscar.

Jaguar Land Rover Australia managing director Matthew Wiesner told GoAuto last week that the new XE is “absolutely vital” and said it would open the company up to a new buyer.

“The XE enables us to talk to a far different audience,” he said at the launch of the F-Type AWD last week. “It's very much a driver's sedan, but at the same time dials up a lot of value.”

The XE will kick off at $60,400, before on-road costs, undercutting the equivalent-spec BMW 320i by $1100 and the Mercedes-Benz C200 by $500.

BMW does, however, offer an entry level 1.6-litre 316i from $53,800. Audi’s A4 2.0 TFSI Ambition is $500 cheaper, while Japanese offerings such as the Lexus IS and Infiniti Q50 start from $54,000 and $50,900 respectively.

The entry level car – known as the Prestige – will be powered by a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine that makes 147W and 280Nm, which is backed by an eight-speed ZF-developed automatic transmission.

The Prestige will also be offered with a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder Ingenium turbo-diesel that makes 132kW and 430Nm, as well as a higher-output version of the 2.0-litre petrol four (known as the 25t) that produces 177kW and 340Nm.

The diesel Prestige –the first Jaguar in Australia to feature the new-generation Ingenium diesel engines from Jaguar Land Rover – will be priced at $62,800, while the petrol 25t will cost $64,900.

Its standard feature list is long, and includes Jaguar’s All Surface traction and stability control with torque vectoring, a tyre-pressure monitoring system, 18-inch alloys, rearview camera with sensors front and rear, automatic park assist with parallel, bay and exit assistance, blind-spot monitoring with vehicle closure sensor and lane-departure warning, There is also keyless start and entry, a head-up display, camera-augmented collision avoidance, HID/Xenon headlights and 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system with satellite navigation.

Ten-way adjustable leather seats, an 11-speaker Meridian stereo system and mirror/steering column/driver seat memory functionality are also included.

Step up into the Portfolio, and different 18-inch alloys, higher grade leather trim and an electric rear sunshade are offered in addition to the spec included on the Prestige.

The Portfolio is only available with the 177kW 25t-badged petrol engine.

The R Sport mimics the Portfolio’s spec, and adds sports seats finished in a material called Luxtec, a new 18-inch rim design, sports suspension and an R-Sport bodykit that comprises a front bumper, side sills and rear spoiler.

The range-topping S’s key addition is the supercharged V6 from the base F-Type.

Making 250kW and 450Nm, the S also scores Jaguar’s Adaptive Dynamics dampers that can adjust themselves 20 times a second in response to the terrain it’s covering.

A set of 19-inch rims, red brake callipers, an S-specific bodykit, a leatherette-wrapped instrument panel, black headlining and alloy pedals round off the $104,200 S.

The XE will be built in Jaguar Land Rover’s Solihull plant in the United Kingdom.

2015 Jaguar XE pricing*

20t Prestige (a)	$60,400
20t R-Sport (a)	$64,400
20d Prestige (a)	$62,800
20d R-Sport (a)	$66,800
25t Prestige (a)	$64,900
25t R-Sport (a)	$68,900
25t Portfolio (a)	$70,400
V6 S (a)	$104,200

*Excludes on-road costs