Luxury Crossovers: it’s what the cool kids are doing these days. BMW has its sporty X6, Audi has the critically acclaimed Q5, Porsche has the ever so sleek and sexy Cayenne, and even Volvo has entered in all the smaller-sized sport utility shenanigans with its stylish XC 60. Feeling left out on the proverbial playground is longtime British luxury automaker Jaguar, but that’s about to change.
Now before the inevitable cries of disapproval come barreling out, a crossover Jag makes total sense from a business perspective. Sister brand Land Rover has had amazing critical success with the Range Rover Evoque, which was named Top Gear’s Car of the Year for 2011 and 2012 SUV of the Year by Motor Trend. So it’s not at all surprising that — in an effort to stay relevant and competitive — Jaguar wants to follow suit with a luxury crossover of its own.
Speaking earlier this month to Autocar at the Geneva Motor Show, Jaguar global brand direction Adrian Hallmark is said to have all but confirmed the company’s focus on seven “significant” new products over the next two years, including a new crossover that is rumored to borrow major underpinnings of the Evoque (you can see Autocar’s rendering of what they think the new crossover will look like above).
While nothing has been officially confirmed, given that parent company Tata Motors recently announced it would double annual investment in Jaguar gives a good indication that the British automaker may now have the creative and financial freedom to expand its auto portfolio in a substantial way. Earlier rumors suggested Jaguar was working on a fully-fledged SUV, but those rumors have amounted to very little and are looking increasingly unlikely. Instead, it looks like Jaguar will focus its attention on the aforementioned crossover as well as a rumored smaller sedan designed to compete with the BMW 3 Series.
Whatever the case may be, something new may be cooking in Jaguar’s automotive kitchen. Whether it finds success with an Evoque-like crossover, or a direct competitor to BMW’s 3 Series, remains to be seen, but if done right, it could very well have a hit on its hands.
