Jaguar Leaps Into the 21st Century - The Big Picture

Jaguar is in a good place. It was touch and go for a while -- a long while -- but now the storied British marque's future finally looks secure. Moreover, it looks exciting. The talented and passionate Ian Callum has given today's 




Jaguars a modern, sexy, distinctive design language, while hard-driving dynamics chief Mike Cross has ensured they have the agile, catlike handling the leaper badge always promised. Jaguar now is an industry leader in lightweight aluminum body construction, its supercharged V-6 and V-8 engines are pleasingly punchy, and the old reputation for poor quality and part-time electrics is a distant memory. And people are paying attention: Tobias Moers, head of Mercedes-Benz's in-house hot shop AMG, says its potent R-cars are the reason Jaguar is now one of the two automakers his guys watch the closest. (The other? It's not BMW, or Audi. It's Cadillac. Apparently the CTS-V has made quite an impression in Affalterbach.) The new F-Type Coupe is the Jaguar sports car we've been promised for more than 20 years. More important, though, the gorgeous F-Type Coupe is an emphatic evocation of what Jaguar is really all about. It's been a long, tortuous, and at times frustratingly wrongheaded journey, but with the F-Type Coupe, Jaguar has finally built its Porsche 911, its BMW 3 Series, its Mercedes E-Class. It has finally built the car that defines it.

Read the 2015 Jaguar F-Type Coupe First Drive HERE. So, just as there's a little 911 in every Porsche, a little 3 Series in every BMW, a little E-Class in every Mercedes, there'll be a little F-Type Coupe in every new Jaguar. We enthusiasts always knew Jaguar was different, but the F-Type Coupe helps everyone understand that it doesn't build tick-the-box "luxury" cars. (Wood? Check. Leather? Check. High-end sound system? Check. Cool technology? Check. Hey, an Acura has all that stuff, too.) No, Jaguar builds fast, glamorous, great-driving sports cars that happen to come in all shapes and sizes, from compact coupes to large sedans. 

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And soon, even crossovers. The C-X17 concept that has been on the auto show circuit is destined for production in 2016. Before it appears, though, the all-new aluminum architecture under the skin (longitudinally mounted front engine, RWD and AWD) will underpin a new small sedan aimed at BMW's 3 Series and Cadillac's ATS. The compact Jaguar sedan will debut later this year, and will likely be followed by two- and four-door coupes and a convertible, all designed to compete with similar variants of the BMW 4 Series. The oldest car in the current Jaguar lineup, the XK Coupe, will be replaced around 2017 with an all-new car based on the F-Type's aluminum architecture, which is different from that of the new small sedan and crossover, but can still package an AWD system, so a 600-hp-plus, AWD RS Coupe is a logical addition to the F-Type range. The F-Type hardware will be stretched and widened to make the XK replacement more of a GT than the current car, with more usable 2+2 seating and trunk space. And don't rule out a four-door coupe version: Mercedes, BMW, and Audi have been doing a roaring trade with their CLS, Gran Coupe, and A7 models over the past few years, so there's no reason why Jaguar would want to miss out on that party.

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A four-door XK coupe would give Jaguar an opportunity to give a face-lifted XJ sedan a slightly more formal roofline to improve rear seat headroom. The future of the XJ has reportedly been the topic of much debate inside Jaguar HQ, where some senior execs believe the car needs a significantly bigger back seat to be more competitive with Mercedes-Benz's ubiquitous S-Class. All I'll say to Jag is this: Remember the F-Type Coupe, guys. That's your DNA, distilled. You build sports cars. Leave the limo business to Mercedes.






























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