Jaguar: We’re prioritising SUVs for electrification over saloons
Jaguar has revealed that it will prioritise its SUVs for electrification, rather than its more traditional saloon models.
The firm currently only offers its electric I-Pace SUV when it comes to electric vehicles, though a plug-in hybrid version of its high-riding F-Pace has recently been revealed. The smaller E-Pace is also set to receive a plug-in hybrid powertrain.
Jaguar has just updated its XE and XF saloons – its bread and butter less than a decade ago – but both cars have missed out on receiving plug-in powertrains.
According to Jaguar, this all comes down to its “priority in terms of investment”, which means that its best-selling SUVs gain hybrid power first and then other models will follow once funds allow.
Scott Dicken, Jaguar sales director, said: “Clearly investing in electrification is very expensive and when we look and see where the market opportunity is, it’s in SUVs.
“Our priority is to electrify our SUV nameplates, and to be candid, we sell more of those and that’s the area of the market that’s growing, which is where we prioritised our initial investment.”
Dicken also said that the reason to not offer plug-in power on the XE and XF came down to the fact that these models are increasingly targeting retail buyers, rather than the fleet market where hybrid models prove more popular due to their incentives and lower company car tax.
The XE and XF have both been updated with the firm’s latest Pivi Pro infotainment system and mild-hybrid engine technology, while Jaguar has also halved the number of derivatives it sells in a push to only offer the more popular variants. The latter has helped to make the updated saloons up to 18 per cent less expensive than their predecessors.
