As sacrilege as it may seem, it’s a practical, logical business decision that Jaguar join the likes of BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and others producing luxury, sporty crossovers.
News of a crossover coming from Jaguar isn’t in itself new at all, but until now virtually nothing has been known about the mystery CUV. But thanks to a report from the folks at Top Gear, we now have a few more details about this upcoming crossover.
For starters, as the title mentioned, this CUV will have body panels made entirely of aluminum – a class-exclusive for sure. The idea is that Jaguar is setting out to not just create another crossover, but to design something truly unique in terms of style and function. Shedding 4-600 lbs with aluminum panels is certainly one way to get started in that direction.
Why aluminum?
Obviously there is a performance benefit virtually across the board with better acceleration, stopping and handling due to the reduction of weight fighting the change of direction, but the real reason is Jaguar’s desire to take advantage of economies of scale. Jaguar wants to move 200,000 units a year based on its new aluminum platform, so building an aluminum-based crossover that shares the XJ’s platform helps achieve that goal.
Expect at least optional all-wheel drive to come from the system being developed for the upcoming XJ to make the transfer, along with a slew of potential engines ranging from small turbocharged four-cylinders to V6 diesels, and possibly beyond.
The Jaguar crossover will likely bow sometime during 2015, with its main markets being in the U.S., Russia and China.
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