New car shoppers are going wild for crossovers right now and
sadly that's left many sedans languishing in showrooms.
Even impressive contenders like the Jaguar XE, which
features punchy engines, a low center of gravity, and a lightweight aluminum
platform, are failing to excite the market, with Jaguar last year selling only
around 5,000 XEs in the United States
The automaker has now revealed a mid-cycle refresh that
hopefully will boost the numbers.
The update sees the face of the XE become a bit more
distinctive. The headlights, which are now LEDs as standard, are new and have
been made slimmer compared to the previous model. The taillights are also LEDs
and include a new graphic.
The interior was also an area of focus, with designers
striving to make things feel more premium through the use of standard leather
trim and more soft-touch materials. A digital instrument cluster, digital
rearview mirror, head-up display, and wireless charging pad are all available,
and there's now a proper gearshift lever for the standard 8-speed automatic.
Several electronic driver aids are included, either standard
or available. Among these are a driver alertness monitor and a park assist
feature with automatic steering. Thankfully, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
smartphone intergration are now standard.
The outgoing model's diesel and supercharged V-6 are no
longer in the lineup. Instead, Jaguar has kept things simple by offering a
single gasoline powertrain, in this case a 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-4 with
outputs of 247 (P250) and 296 (P300) horsepower. All-wheel drive is available
with the 247-hp powertrain and standard with the 296-hp option. The latter
combo will see the XE hit 60 mph in 5.4 seconds.
Though it's yet to be confirmed, we could see a 3.0
turbocharged inline-6 made available shortly. The powertrain is already
available in the Land
Rover Range Rover Sport where it delivers 395 hp.
The 2020 Jaguar XE reaches showrooms in the summer with a
base price of $40,895. Rivals include the BMW 3-Series, Lexus IS and
Mercedes-Benz C-Class.
by Viknesh Vijayenthiran
http://www.boscheuropean.com
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