The Jaguar XE will be the brand’s first-ever model built in China and the first Jaguar to be fully assembled outside the UK. However, it will not be the first Jaguar Land Rover product to be made in China, as the Range Rover Evoque has been produced there since October.
The premium sedan will be built alongside the Evoque and Land Rover Discovery Sport SUVs at the new plant in Changshu, Jaguar Land Rover’s global fleet director Ken Forbes told AutoNews Europe.
The executive didn’t say when JLR will start production of the XE, which was unveiled in China in November at the Guangzhou Auto Show. Local production of the XE is part of Jaguar’s ambitious expansion plans that include the launch of at least three all-new or heavily revised models by 2016.
Jaguar will start European sales of the XE in May 2015, followed by the new-generation XF sedan and a midsize crossover due in 2016. All three models will use JLR’s new aluminum platform. Analysts predict these three new models will increase Jaguar’s global sales to around 200,000 by 2017 from a forecast of 80,000 for 2014.
China alone is expected to account for approximately 20,000 sales in 2014, which is less than one fifth of total JLR sales in the country. With the arrival of the XE, Jaguar expects a significant sales boost in China. Jaguar didn’t say whether it will launch a long-wheelbase XE variant to compete with models like the stretched BMW 3-Series or Mercedes-Benz C-Class L.
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