Jaguar SUV concept points to an all-aluminium future

Jaguar Land Rover is being coy about whether we’ll ever see the Jaguar C-X17 again. The company unveiled its first SUV concept in Frankfurt in September. Last month, a slightly altered version made its Asia debut at the Guangzhou Motor Show, ahead of its preview in Hong Kong.

The latest version of the concept is different in two ways, according to Bob Grace, president of Jaguar Land Rover China. It has five rather than four seats and, to appeal to Chinese tastes, it has gold-coloured bodywork and a tan leather interior.

While the introduction of an SUV to a premium carmaker’s line-up has proven controversial in the past – think Porsche’s Cayenne when it was launched, or Bentley’s concept EXP 9F – in Jaguar’s case, it appears to work.

Design elements such as the XJ’s large grille and slender headlamps sit well with the concept’s large air dams; the F-type’s rear “cat’s claw” lights don’t look out of place on a bigger product. The sophistication of the interior design – contemporary hi-tech, without feeling cold – is a well-crafted work of art.

“Jaguar is now over 75 years old. It’s got a lot of sporting heritage. We wanted a vehicle that could stand as being a Jaguar, not a Land Rover that was converted into a Jaguar,” Grace says. “So if you look at the car, you can see Jaguar proportions – the stance of the vehicle, the imposing front end. [It’s] the car that almost looks alive.”

But he stresses that the C-X17 is a concept car, primarily intended to showcase the aluminium technology that will underpin the whole range of Jaguar vehicles in future. Any crossover vehicle made by Jaguar will not necessarily look the same as the C-X17, Grace says. “The first car with that aluminium technology will come on the market next year.”

Aluminium has been used in a limited capacity in the past, such as in the XJ, and some of Jaguar’s sports cars. Moving forward, all new models will be aluminium.

As a concept, the C-X17 is a lightweight aluminium monocoque with body panels also made of the alloy. “So it’s a true aluminium product,” Grace says.

The first all-aluminium car will probably be a smaller sedan, he adds. “The greater plan is to have a crossover vehicle off that same platform. So we’ll probably have three or four different Jaguars off the same platform.”

Grace says the company has been using the previews in Guangzhou and Hong Kong to gauge the reaction of Chinese consumers, although he added it was too soon to come to any conclusions.

Meanwhile, Grace says the company has sold about 200 F-type sports cars across Greater China since sales began just over four months ago. “It’s making its mark. It just won the Golden Steering Wheel award in Germany.

“So in the backyard of one of the big German sports car manufacturers, we’ve stolen the prized Golden Steering Wheel, which I could imagine has caused a few feathers to flutter in Stuttgart,” he says, referring to the hometown of Porsche and Mercedes-Benz.

The company is halfway through building a new factory in Changshu, north of Shanghai. It is expected to be operational towards the end of this year, and will start delivering cars to showrooms in China, where its partner is Chery, next year.

Normal production capacity is about 130,000 cars a year, with a maximum capacity of 180,000 a year, Grace says.