This long-awaited small executive sedan can now be ordered - what are the Jaguar XE prices+specs for South Africa?

A young new executive is coming to town.  Many are talking about him, and have been anticipating his arrival for more than a year.  The name of this new exec?  Jaguar XE.

What to expect in the new Jaguar XE?

The Jaguar XE has a dedicated role of providing a Jaguar in the very (and increasingly) popular compact executive and compact sports sedan market segment, currently dominated by the big 3 Germans:  BMW 3 Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Audi A4.

The expectation is therefore that Jaguar will add this – its smallest and most affordable product range – to compete against abovementioned cars.  Think of what Jaguar has done with XF mid-size executive sedan (the new one is out overseas, and on the way to SA, possibly this year still) and the large-size XJ and XJ L sedans.  More recently, the Jaguar F-Type sports car is proving a popular choice, competing well in a broad spectrum, against everything like compact roadsters to big sports.

Give us the trim line choices

The Jaguar XE will be spread over 5 model trim line choices.  Keeping partly in line with the XF and XJ naming convention, the Jaguar XE will be offered in Pure, Prestige, R-Sport, Portfolio, and S.

Pure is the “base” model, though already includes high-spec items like JaguarDrive Control, Jaguar Sense, and 8-inch capacitive touch-screen, to name but three items.

Prestige adds several luxury features, R-Sport does what is says on the box, offering a sport package, while Portfolio adds a more exclusive ambience, with the S topping out as the high-performance sports derivative.

What are the drivetrain options?

For the South African market, the Jaguar XE Pure trim is linked to the 2.0 4-cylinder turbo diesel engine, good for 132kW, and a manual 6-speed gearbox.  The same diesel engine or petrol option of 2.0 4-cylinder turbo makes 177kW, and can be linked to Prestige, Portfolio and R-Sport lines in Jaguar XE, where both engines are coupled to an 8-speed automatic transmission.

Reserved for compatibility as the top-of-the-line Jaguar XE, the S model uses a 3.0 V6 supercharged, doing 250kW.  The dealer rumour mill has it that a hot Jaguar XER, to compete against BMW M4 and Mercedes-AMG C63, is in the pipeline.  Not inconceivable, considering the existence of the Jaguar XFR and XJR.

Now to the prices of the Jaguar XE in South Africa

Let’s hope the pricing which is higher than the competition means the Jaguar XE is well equipped and capable to compete.

The Jaguar XE initial range will comprise 8 models.  Including VAT and emissions tax (the 2.0D engine is emissions tax exempt) these cover a price bracket of R 535k to R 916k, priced as follows:

Jaguar XE 2.0D Pure	R 534 800
Jaguar XE 2.0D Prestige	R 590 400
Jaguar XE 2.0D R-Sport	R 614 000
Jaguar XE 2.0D Portfolio	R 654 600
Jaguar XE 2.0 i4 Prestige	R 644 953
Jaguar XE 2.0 i4 R-Sport	R 668 653
Jaguar XE 2.0 i4 Portfolio	R 709 253
Jaguar XE 3.0 Supercharged S	R 915 692