Jaguar XE: will new 'Baby Jag' help woo younger drivers?

At a "star-studded launch" in central London last night, the Jaguar XE – or "Baby Jag" – made its first public appearance.

The new model is designed to attract young drivers and women to a firm that has traditionally appealed largely to rich, older men.

The Jaguar XE will compete head on with the BMW 3 Series, Mercedes C-Class and Audi A4, but will it be another success for Jaguar Land Rover or a £2bn flop?

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What's the big idea?

Jaguar chief executive Ralf Speth says the XE has come from a "completely blank sheet of paper" and emerged out of "listening to what the market and the customers said". The XE will "become a hot car, a fashionable car," he says.

Jaguar has built two new plants and will create 2,300 jobs to bring the car to market, the Daily Telegraph reports. It comes at a critical moment for the firm, as it seeks to expand its niche audience. "The XE is unbelievably important to [JLR]," Speth said at the UK launch. "It's important we expand the range to cover more product segments and bring younger customers, bring females, into the range of Jaguar".

Styling

Jaguar intended to create the "most fun" car to drive in its class, Car Buyer magazine says, and it "certainly looks sporty". The car takes its design cues from the larger Jaguar XF, including its prominent grille and "intricate headlight design" which is fitted with LED lights. The XE's sloping roofline and swept-back windscreen make it look "almost like a five-door coupe rather than a boxy saloon car," Car Buyer says.

Ian Callum, Jaguar's design director, said: "We decided to stick with the Jaguar design philosophy. People have started to get used to Jaguar and what they look like. The Jaguar 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. It is longer than a 3 Series, shorter than an A4 and with an interior comparable with the C-Class".

Engine

The Jaguar XE's engines, dubbed "Ingenium" by Jaguar, promise greater performance and improved efficiency than previous models, according to Evo magazine. The improvements will be "felt from behind the wheel" due to a reduction in the engine weight of up to 80kg compared with current models.

Interior

Jaguar says it has worked hard to maximise the car's interior space. However, Jaguar has not yet released exact interior measurements, and says that it has not set out to be the best in its class. What Car says that the car is quite dark, which lends the cabin "an enclosed feeling".

Some experts have their doubts about Jaguar's interior. Max Warburton of Bernstein Research told Forbes that Jaguar's German rivals have more experience and a longer track record in luxury.

"Apparently the interior is small, due to the need to use box section aluminium in the sills for rigidity, so there is less room than in steel-bodied competitor cars," he says. "The interior is described as plain".

Tech features

The XE will come with the company's latest InControl "infotainment" system. The system offers Bluetooth connectivity, wi-fi hotspot capabilities, remote functionality (which allows users to control aspects of their car such as door locks and climate control remotely via smartphone), a heads-up display and "high quality" audio. The XE's display will also mirror a smartphone, allowing drivers to activate apps, music and podcasts directly from the dashboard. The whole system is activated using a voice control system, Jaguar says "so drivers can keep their eyes on the road" without navigating through menus. However, drivers of a certain vintage be warned: there's no CD slot.

Price and launch date

The Jaguar XE will start from £27,000, the company says – a few hundred pounds more than the BMW 316d SE – and will be available to test drive next year, with the first orders being delivered in May.