Four-pawed puss

By ALASTAIR SLOANE

The new Jaguar sports saloon, codenamed the X400 and nicknamed the T-Type, will be the only car in its class with all-wheel-drive as standard.

The car, pictured above for the first time in New Zealand as an accurate computer-generated image (see accompanying story), will be aimed in price and performance at the luxury Germans, specifically the segment-leading BMW 3-Series.

The new Mercedes-Benz C-Class and new Audi A4 are also on Jaguar's hit list as the Ford-owned company lays out plans for a handful of new models and variants over the next few years.

The X400 will get its official handle in October when Jaguar releases the first in-house pictures. Although the designation T-Type is the rumoured choice, there is talk that Jaguar will instead stay with a letter it has used before, perhaps in this case the C-Type for "compact."

The X400 will be launched internationally in April next year and will go on sale in New Zealand late in 2001, priced from about $70,000. It is expected to push Jaguar's annual production from about 100,000 to 300,000.

The car is based loosely on the platform of the next-generation Ford Mondeo and will initially come with a choice of two engines, a 2.5-litre V6 and 3.0-litre V6. A 3.2-litre supercharged R variant will follow in 2002 and a ground-breaking front-drive 2.0-litre version in 2003.

Jaguar says the car's standard all-wheel-drive will open up a whole new market and give it an advantage in dollar terms over Audi's premium-priced Quattro lineup and any optional all-wheel-drive models from BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

The X400 represents a world of firsts for Jaguar, which has always built rear-drive cars.

It will be the first production Jaguar to use all-wheel-drive, the first to offer a front-drive option and the first to use a 2.0-litre six-cylinder engine. The all-wheel-drive system feeds 70 per cent of drive to the rear wheels and 30 per cent to the front.

Powering all four wheels is expected to add to Jaguar's appeal in the United States, which takes more than 50 per cent of Jaguar production and where many states have poor winter driving conditions.

Jaguar New Zealand's general manager, Robert Nash, has seen the finished product. But he wouldn't discuss specific details, except that it "looks even better in the flesh than the Herald's picture."

Jaguar is expected to focus more over the next few years on spin-offs from its sporting heritage and Formula One future now that former BMW director Wolfgang Reitzle is in charge.

Reitzle left BMW last year after a boardroom brawl and was appointed by Ford president Jac Nasser to head Ford's Premier Automotive Group, which includes Jaguar, Aston Martin, Volvo and Lincoln.

Reitzle, of course, knows what to expect from BMW and, to a lesser extent, Mercedes-Benz over the next few years and he has set in place plans to boost Jaguar sales and production through new models.

The supercharged R variant, for example, is expected to be powered by a 3.2-litre V6 producing about 260kW, power that will match the upcoming BMW M3 and Mercedes-Benz C32.

Nash said the X400 will come with sportier options - "unlike Jaguars of the past where performance add-ons were frowned upon."

"The X400 will, given the younger age group we aim to sell to, lend itself to having sports options as accessories. Things like boot spoilers, wider tyres and rims and side skirts will give it more appeal."