Jaguar’s XE Getting Ready For A Revamp To Fend Off New 3-Series

The Jaguar XE doesn’t exactly look dated, but the British marque is hard at work developing a facelifted model.

Expected to premiere at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2019, the new XE will arrive with tweaked looks and some mechanical modifications. Considering that an all-new BMW 3-Series is just around the corner, Jaguar will be hoping that its updates are enough to sway buyers away from the ever-popular German sports sedan.

Exterior wise, our spy photographers say that the facelifted Jaguar XE will be adorned with redesigned headlights and taillights, while the only other obvious visual changes are tipped to be the revised bumpers.

Of much more importance will be what’s going on under the skin. Jaguar has confirmed that it’s working hard on electrification, and the updated XE is tipped to be one of the brand’s first models to benefit from a mild-hybrid powertrain. This technology is expected to be paired with the vehicle’s Ingenium engines and will feature a 48-volt electrical architecture that includes a belt alternator starter and a small lithium-ion battery.

Thanks to this new setup, as well as an advanced coasting function and modern start-stop system, certain XE models will benefit from much-improved fuel efficiency as well as a small gain in performance.

Details about the rest of Jaguar’s powertrain plans remain murky, but the company recently dropped all V6 versions of the XE in Europe.