The new Jaguar XE was unveiled at a star-studded event in London last night.
The car, Britain’s answer to the BMW 3 Series, was flown via helicopter across London and taken up the Thames on a speedboat to Earls Court, where singer Emeli Sanda, the Kaiser Chiefs and fashion designer Stella McCartney marked the occasion.
Priced from £27,000, the model will go on sale following its debut at the Paris Motor Show next month.
The first cars will be delivered to their owners in May 2015.
Jaguar’s design director Ian Callum said: “We decided to stick with the Jaguar design philosophy.
“People have started to get used to Jaguar and what they look like.
“The XE is a sports saloon with a long bonnet, great wheel to dash proportions, the cabin set backwards and a coupe profile.
“But we’ve still got great packaging inside. [The car is] longer than a 3 Series, shorter than an A4 and with an interior comparable with the C-Class”.
The XE S is fitted with Jaguar’s own v6 engine which has been derived from the XF/XJ 5.0 v8 and is capable of propelling the vehicle to 60mph in 4.9 seconds.
Other features include under-floor shielding and a rear diffuser to drop the XE’s drag coefficient down to 0.26, the lowest of any Jaguar ever produced.
Selected versions will be installed with active vanes in the front grille that shut to allow the car to cut through the air quicker.
In addition, Jaguar has specified a two-year or 21,000-mile servicing schedule for the diesel Ingenium engines, as well as making the front and rear crash structures and body panels bolt on and off for easy repair.
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