Jaguar supermini could be on the way
10 April 2012
- Jaguar’s design boss wants to add a supermini
- Tells of need to increase Jaguar’s offering
- No plans for Mini rival yet, though
A Jaguar supermini could be on the way, according to the brand's head of design, Ian Callum.
‘There is hardly anything we haven’t looked at as a potential Jaguar product,’ Callum told What Car? at the New York motor show.
‘I have mentioned supermini and that is my personal soapbox, internally and externally,’ said Callum. ‘I’d love to think that one day we could make something the size of a Mini.’
However, while Callum told What Car? that a Mini-rivalling supermini was his favoured option, he also admitted that there might not be a business case for such a car to join the Jaguar range.
Jaguar still sees itself as a relatively small company compared with brands such as Audi and BMW, and it recognises the need to expand in order to compete more effectively.
‘We understand that we need to increase our portfolio. Not just from a business point of view, but we also need to get our brand more visible,’ said Callum.
However, Jaguar is expected to concentrate on other areas before it enters the city-car market.
These other projects could include a long-awaited replacement for the X-type that would rival the Audi A4 and BMW 3 Series. This prompted Callum to point out that there is only so much Jaguar can do at once.
‘We are doing more things now in parallel than we have ever done before. We couldn’t push it any faster.’
Tom Webster
What Car?
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