Jaguar will build C-X75 (updated)

Williams F1 Grand Prix team will help Jaguar create a production version of the stunning C-X75 concept car that was greeted with a euphoric response when it was unveiled at the Paris motor show last September.

A maximum of 250 will be built, with production starting towards the end of 2013 and concluding two years later. The price will be between £700,000 and £900,000, depending on local taxes.

The car will be made 'at a Jaguar facility in the West Midlands', but Williams F1 will lend its expertise in carbonfibre body construction, active aerodynamics, hybrid powertrains and battery technology to the project.

The C-X75 concept car featured two micro-turbines to power it, and Jaguar says it remains 'committed to this technology for multiple applications in future cars'.

However, the technology will not be ready in time for the production version of C-X75, which will be a four-wheel-drive hybrid.

Not just any old hybrid, though. The small-capacity internal combustion engine at the heart of the drivetrain will be based on a next-generation Formula One turbocharged unit, and there will be high-power electric motors on each axle.

Story continues underneath our video of the C-X75

The vital stats?
Jaguar will not quote a power output at this stage, but says the car will be engineered to blast from 0-60mph in less than three seconds, 0-100mph in less than six and on to a top speed of 200mph. However, emissions will be at the same level as those 'of a small hybrid family car'. Jaguar says it has a CO2 target of 'less than 99g/km'.

The car will be capable of covering 30 miles on electric power alone and will also have a track mode, when both active suspension and active aerodynamics will become operational.

Carbon-ceramic brakes will be standard, along with a torque-vectoring system to help the car hold its line in high-speed corners.

The full mechanical package will be revealed this autumn – probably at the Frankfurt motor show – but the name will stay a secret until nearer its launch date. The only certainty is that it will not be called C-X75.

Jaguar brand director Adrian Hallmark says the car will 'redefine performance and sustainability'.

'Never before has the company launched such an ambitious, world-beating vehicle programme,' said Carl-Peter Forster, ceo of Tata Motors, Jaguar's parent company.

'This is the Jaguar of the future. The opportunity for innovation like this in the UK is part of the reason Tata Motors invested in Jaguar, and it’s fantastic that products such as the C-X75 can become reality.'