- by Brian Byrne
Diesel Jag on the cards?
02 April 2003: Jaguar is expected to announce a 2-litre diesel version of its X-Type saloon before the end of the year, along with a 'sportwagon' version.
Both ideas will be a first for the brand, and a departure from the purely 'sporting luxury' image of Jaguar, which is seen by owner Ford as no longer being enough to guarantee profits from the division.
The X-Type, which was initially expected to raise total Jaguar sales to much higher levels has in recent months shown a steep decline in sales, to the point that its production plant was closed for two weeks in order to decrease inventory numbers.
The inexorable rise of diesel power in luxury brands in Europe - in some cases representing up to three-quarters of sales in individual models - will also force the pace for Jaguar, which had depended on US sales of petrol models to boost its total sales. High taxes on cars over 2 litres is also an inhibiting factor in Europe.
The diesel to be used could be based either on the TDCi used in the Ford Mondeo, or the more refined Mazda diesel currently available in the Mazda6 and also being introduced to some Mondeo models.
There would be no problems incorporating either of these into the X-Type which was developed on the Mondeo platform, and is available in both FWD and AWD versions.
And even Lexus, which has so far eschewed diesel power ostensibly on the grounds that a sufficiently smooth oil-burner is not available, has confirmed that there will be a diesel-powered RX300 'in the life of the new version'.
©2003 irishcar.com