Tata Has yet To Decide The Future Of The X-Type
Following on from our previous article on the weeks production shutdown at Halewood, Dealers are still unclear whether production of the Jaguar X-Type will continue beyond 2009.
Under the previous Ford management, Jaguar had previously suggested that the X-Type would cease production in 2009 when the Halewood plant started making the new sub-Freelander model, as previewed in the recent Land Rover LRX concept, which is expected to use up all the space currently used by the X-Type manufacturing line.
The X-Type had already been withdrawn from sale in the American market at the end of 2007 due to poor sales, where the European markets received a mildly facelifted version with new front and rear bumpers and grille.
Now under new Tata ownership with increased investment, dealers are hopeful a replacement may be found for the car, but with Jaguars self confessed new desire to be seen 'mainly as a sportscar company' and the sale of Aston Martin allowing the Jaguar brand to move upmarket, a new £20,000 saloon may not be seen as fitting the companies new direction.
Having the Halewood plant manufacture purely Land Rover would make sense if the new small model can fill production, and would also suggest that any new Jaguar be based on the larger models rear wheel drive platforms, which would also remove the majority of the criticism that dogged the current X-type at launch, that it was based on the front wheel drive Mondeo platform and was widely seen as 'not a proper Jaguar.'
Following this line of thought would mean the most feasible models may be new versions of the XF such as a coupe or estate variant, although while estates are popular in Europe, they don't sell in America where SUV's take up the majority of sales. Any new XF variants would be built at the Castle Bromwich Plant along the current production line, rather than using Halewood.
Other possibilities would be for a sports car, either sub-XK like the highly praised F-Type concept to rival the Boxster, or even sitting higher in the range than the XK as a direct rival to the DB9, at around the £100k mark.
