Jaguar E-Pace: new compact SUV to become best-selling Jaguar

The Jaguar Jaguar E-Pace compact SUV is the next step in the car maker's SUV sales assault and is due to be revealed in early summer.

UPDATE: Read the full reveal story and see the launch pictures of the Jaguar E-Pace here

It follows just six months after the unveiling of the electric I-Pace at the LA motor show.

Front-wheel-drive versions will be most popular, but all-wheel-drive will be an option. Both six-speed manual and eight-speed automatic transmissions will be offered. With the Evoque and Discovery Sport being Jaguar Land Rover’s two bestselling models, the Halewood factory is already at its full capacity of 200,000 cars annually.

As a result, JLR is currently assessing how to accommodate production of a new model. JLR also builds the Evoque and Discovery Sport in in Brazil, India and China, but it is unlikely that Jaguar would choose to produce the E-Pace abroad without any manufacturing capacity for the car in the UK.

Styling for the E-Pace, as spotted in recent images of the car testing near JLR’s Gaydon HQ and inside the Arctic Circle, closely resembles that of the F-Pace, with both the grille and roofline reminiscent of those of its larger sibling.

The E-Pace will also feature the latest development of Jaguar’s InControl Touch Pro infotainment system, recently updated in the F-Pace, and showcase improvements in interior quality. InControl Touch Pro now offers so-called ‘DualView’ technology, which was first introduced on the Range Rover and allows the driver and front passenger to view different display functions on the same 10in screen.

The E-Pace will use 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol and diesel Ingenium engines, which are produced at JLR’s engine manufacturing facility in Wolverhampton. Echoing the engine line-up in the recently updated F-Pace, the units will include an entry-level 161bhp 2.0-litre diesel, which targets company car drivers with its good CO2 emissions and fuel economy, as well as a 178bhp 2.0-litre diesel.

The compact SUV will also use the same 2.0-litre engine in twin-turbocharged form to create a new high-performance diesel model with 237bhp and “more performance at high engine speeds without compromising responses at low revs”, according to Jaguar.

The E-Pace would also be an ideal car for Jaguar to launch its expected hybrid powertrain, the introduction of which would help Jaguar bring down its fleet-average CO2 output in order to achieve stricter emissions targets. The most likely option is a mild hybrid electric vehicle (MHEV) powertrain, a version of which is also expected on the Evoque and Discovery Sport.