XE sedan to be the first Jaguar produced in China

JLR's rival to the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, BMW 3-Series and Audi A4 will be the first Jaguar produced in China. Revealed in September this year, the XE sedan will be produced at the Chery Jaguar Land Rover plant in Changshu. The new model will be built alongside the Range Rover Evoque and recently unveiled Land Rover Discovery Sport SUVs according to JLR global fleet director Ken Forbes.

Built on Jaguar's new aluminium intensive modular vehicle architecture, JLR is banking on the XE to increase their volumes. The XE is available with a choice of 2.0-litre petrol and diesel engines in different states of tune. The XE S performance variant, is powered by a 3.0-litre supercharged V6 petrol engine. The diesel models, which use the new Ingenium engines, are offered with a 6-speed manual or 8-speed automatic transmission. All petrol models are offered with the 8-speed auto-box as standard.

Forbes didn't mention when Chinese production of the XE would begin, but Jaguar reportedly plans to add an engine plant in China next year. JLR's Chinese plant is expected to hit its capacity of 1.3 lakh units annually by 2016. Once the new engine plant is also operational, the XE will be the first Jaguar to be fully assembled outside the UK. The XE is expected to make its Indian debut in 2016. The car will reportedly be locally assembled at JLR's plant in Pune.

Source: Automotive News Europe