irishcar.com

11 March 2002: A 2.1-litre Jaguar X-Type with front-wheel-drive will go on sale in Ireland this week at some 3,000 euros less than the current entry-level model.

The car, which was driven by Irish motoring journalists - including irishcar.com - yesterday in Spain, will come on the Irish market at 42,865 euros for the Classic basic car, and will also be available in Sport and Luxury specs up to a price of 52,231 euros. Because of the Irish the new car tax regimes, the entry price compares to just under 33,000 euros in the car's UK home market.

The new car is being marketed as a 2-litre, but is actually a 2.1 for tax and insurance purposes. The engine outputs some 157bhp, and with a 0-60mph of 8.9sec, it is competitive with some respected competition.

The '2-litre' X-Type is likely to become the 60% major share in sales of the car, according to Jaguar Ireland MD Gerard O'Farrell.

The X-Type was launched in May of last year with 2.5- and 3-litre engines, and a standard 4WD transmission, and the introduction of the '2-litre' is seen by Jaguar people as giving them a chance to expand their market share in the 'compact premium' sector.

Realistically, anyone who has already bought an X-Type with their original powerplants is unlikely to 'downsize', so the extra sales are most likely to come from either conquest sales in the premium bracket, or from people attracted up to the premium segment. This latter has been a phenomenon in the global doubling of sales of Jaguar cars since the introduction of the larger S-Type three years ago.