Jaguar on the prowl

By ALASTAIR SLOANE

Jaguar has let the cat out of the bag - the all-wheel-drive sports sedan codenamed the X400 is now officially the Jaguar X-Type.

The car will go on sale in New Zealand in about 12 months. Two models will be available, one powered by a 2.5-litre V6 engine, the other by the 3.0-litre V6 unit from the bigger S-Type. The price of the range is expected to start from about $70,000.

The car's measurements, specifications and engine details won't be available until next March, when Jaguar prepares it for its mid-year launch in Britain.

The X-Type breaks new ground for the Ford-owned British carmaker, despite the obvious family link to the bigger S-Type saloon.

It is the first Jaguar to be equipped with four-wheel-drive and it is the first British entrant into the prestige compact segment where it will compete with Germany's finest, the BMW 3-Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Audi A4.

Two more models will be added to the X-Type range before 2003 - an entry-level front-drive powered by the 2.5-litre engine and a high-performance version using a 220kW supercharged 3.0-litre V6 to rival BMW's M3 and Audi's S4.

Jaguar expects the X-Type to attract a new generation of customers - including more female buyers.

"They typically will be younger than traditional Jaguar buyers with notably different needs," said Jonathan Browning, Jaguar managing director.

"As the smallest and most affordable model in the range, the X-Type challenges existing perceptions about Jaguar.

"It exemplifies Jaguar's new performance spirit, offering a fresh, contemporary expression of Jaguar values."

Jaguar will have four models next year - the X-Type, S-Type, XJ8 and XK8 - to challenge luxury market rivals. The S-Type is priced between $98,000 and $139,000, the XJ8 sits at $135,000, and the XK8 ranges from $176,000 to $216,000.

The X-Type was originally penned by S-Type creator Geoff Lawson before his sudden death last year. The company's new design chief, Ian Callum, took over the final styling.

Lawson said of Jaguar design: "The key to a Jaguar is sensitivity, subtlety, honesty, integrity. It is not an 'in your face' design statement.

"Fashion goes out of fashion. Classic design is timeless."

Lawson wanted the X-Type to be more than a smaller version of the S-Type. He set out to build a sporty model, styled on the S-Type and with an obvious Jaguar heritage. Callum carried it on.

"The Jaguar S-Type's most obvious spiritual successor is the Mk II," Lawson said.

"That car was quintessentially Jaguar. We own the spirit of that car.

"I think the S-Type has that fundamental honesty, integrity and subtlety that all the classic Jaguars had.

"Subtlety is about removing, not adding. There's no gratuitous element on the car at all.

"It relies upon form, subtlety, stance, proportion - that instantly recognisable link to the Jaguar DNA that goes back 70 years. DNA is the core Jaguar values in each product, whether it's a sportscar, a big saloon, or a medium saloon.

"What differentiates Jaguar, however, from key competitors, is that each of our products has a different and highly individual face which is still obviously Jaguar - not just scaled up or scaled down versions of the same thing. "

The design of the X-Type might reflect Jaguar's heritage but the underpinnings are largely Ford. The car is based on the new Ford Mondeo - being launched in Britain this week - which provides the chassis and some components.

More and more carmakers are utilising components and building three and four models on the one chassis, certainly since recent takeovers.

Peugeot and Citroen have used each other's platforms. The Volkswagen Beetle is built on a Golf platform. So is the Audi A3. Nissan and its owner Renault will share platforms. The Chrysler PT sits on a Neon platform. The list goes on.

But critics of the cost-effective practice say it lessens the value of some cars, especially when mass models like the VW Golf or Ford Mondeo become the basis for an Audi or Jaguar.