Jaguar announced that it will launch its very first sports utility vehicle (SUV), making it the most recent automaker to give in to the growing demand for SUVs.
The British car company announced the F-PACE, a sleek and compact crossover that is based on the C-X17 concept first introduced at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2013 and borrows some design cues from Jaguar's F-TTYPE convertible sports car.
"We received such an overwhelmingly positive response to the C-X17 concept car last year that we just had to make it a reality," says Ian Callum, director of design at Jaguar. "The Jaguar F-PACE, inspired by the F-TYPE, represents a perfectly judged balance of performance, style, and practicality. It offers a unique combination of Jaguar sports car inspired exterior design, fused beautifully with a thoroughly practical and spacious luxury interior."
Following Bentley and Maserati into the SUV bandwagon, Jaguar unveiled its plans just ahead of the North American International Auto Show, where the F-PACE is not expected to make an appearance.
The announcement is unexpected, given the fact that Land Rover, a sister company of Jaguar, makes SUVs exclusively. However, Jaguar is quick to emphasize that it focuses more on the "sport" aspect of the F-PACE instead of the "utility" aspect.
The highlight, the company says, is the crossover's on-road driving features and the five-seat usability as opposed to the off-road driving dynamics of a true SUV, such as the up-and-coming Discovery Sport to be launched by Land Rover at around the same time as the F-PACE.
Joe Eberhardt, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover in the United States, believes there is a market for two very different vehicles. These are "two defined and delineated brands," Eberhardt says, and Jaguar's F-PACE will not clash with Land Rover's own SUVs, which are made for serious off-roaders, as compared to the F-PACE "sports family car."
"Land Rover is all about capability - the ultimate off-road vehicle," says Eberhardt. "We also think there is a market for people who maybe do not need this ultimate capability."
Jaguar did not announce what we will find under the hood of the F-PACE, but it is likely going to be a four-cylinder engine found inside the XE luxury sedan, another new vehicle announced by Jaguar recently. Like the XE, the lightweight F-PACE extensively uses aluminum for its body.
No announcements were made as to the price of Jaguar's first SUV. The F-PACE will directly compete with the Audi Q5, BMW X3 and the Mercedes Benz CLK-Class, which all cost below $40,000, which means Jaguar will likely price its crossover around that price.
The Jaguar F-PACE is in production at the company's Solihull plant in England. The first vehicles to roll off the production line will be available in the spring of 2016.
"With... the introduction of the new Jaguar XE and the Land Rover Discovery Sport, we anticipate retailing over half a million vehicles for the first time in the company's history," says group sales operations director Andy Goss.
Jaguar saw its global sales rise by 9 percent to more than 460,000 vehicles sold in 2014, more than double the number of units sold six years ago.
