Jaguar E-Pace spotted doing rounds of Nurburgring

Jaguar is in the midst of a crossover offensive ever since it introduced its first ever crossover, the F-Pace last year. Following that, the British marque is now developing an all-new crossover which will be positioned below the F-Pace and the production version of the I-Pace. Christened as E-Pace, our spy photographers have spotted the car going around the notorious Nurburgring.

With SUVs and crossovers being the flavour of the season, and the resounding success of the F-Pace, it is a logical move on part of Jaguar to add another crossover to its lineup this year. The E-Pace would be competing against the German trio of Audi Q3, BMW X1 and Mercedes-Benz GLA. The entry-level E-Pace will be to the smaller XE what the F-Pace is to the XF sedan. This smaller crossover from Coventry is expected to be based on the tweaked platform of the new Range Rover Evoque. Under the camouflage of the E-Pace, we could see a cab-forward design with a coupe-like silhouette. Its fascia would be similar to that of its elder brethren, with sleek LED headlights and an imposing grille, making it instantly recognisable as a Jaguar.

The exclusive interior shots of the prototype don't reveal much, however, the prototype had a gear-lever instead of Jaguar’s characteristic ‘hand-shake’ rotary dial. We expect the production vehicle to have a cabin similar to that of the XE or the F-Pace. Powering the E-Pace will be Jaguar’s turbocharged inline-four petrol and diesel engines mated with the ZF-sourced nine-speed automatic transmission as standard, while the all-wheel-drive will be optional.

Jaguar is expected to introduce the E-Pace sometime next year after the highly anticipated I-Pace is launched. The car will hit the road only in 2019 and will be a much more affordable product, which might make the E-Pace Jaguar’s highest selling car.