Jaguar has introduced its least expensive model to date: the XE sports sedan intended to appeal to a wider range of consumers while taking on competitors.
Purchased in 2008 by India's Tata group, which also bought Land Rover, Jaguar was rejuvenated this year by an investment of 3.5 billion pounds, or $5.6 billion USD, Reuters reported.
While the Jaguar brand is usually associated with wealthy men in their later years, the new XE is designed with women and younger drivers in mind.
"We think the customers are likely to be younger, earlier in their life stage, they are more likely to have children ... they are more likely to be female," Nick Miller, chief program engineer of the XE series, told Reuters.
Built in the "Saloon" style, the XE sedan is Jaguar's cheapest model yet at 27,000 pounds, or $44,000, and should go on sale next year, according to Bloomberg News. The midsized sports model was unveiled Monday in London.
The XE sports sedan "represents a bet-the-house gamble," Max Warburton, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein Ltd. in Singapore, told Bloomberg News. "The XE launches into what is arguably the most competitive premium segment of all."
When it hits showrooms next year, the new XE will compete with models from Audi and Mercedes-Benz as well as the BMW 3-Series.
Jaguar ended production of its entry-level luxury X-type vehicles in 2009 but has been able to reboot an X lineup partly thanks to a new aluminum frame.
Recycled aluminum makes up 75 percent of the XE's body surface area, an amount that Jaguar says is a record for any similar vehicle.
The XE sedan, which will likely be followed by an SUV model, will be featured at next month's Paris Motor Show.
Jaguar Land Rover sales increased 19 percent last fiscal year, according to Reuters.
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