Jaguar’s XE is the next compact sports sedan from across the pond to rival the BMW 3 Series – UPADTE

After years of stagnation, Jaguar is resurgent. Its XF and XJ sedans are stylish alternatives to the German standards, and the F Type sports car is desirable beyond words.

Jaguar’s next potential hit will be a compact sports sedan. At the 2014 Geneva Motor Show, Jaguar revealed a few details of this new model, which will strike at the heart of BMW territory.

Chief among those details is the car’s name: XE. That places it in continuity with the larger XF, and references the most famous Jaguar of all, the E-Type. Hopefully Jag won’t run out of letters to pair with “X” though; the XX doesn’t sound an attractive proposition.

The XE will be the first small Jaguar sedan since the ill-fated X-Type, and it will have to fair better than that Ford-based curiosity. Competing against the Audi A4, BMW 3 Series, and Mercedes-Benz C-Class, the XE will have to be both sporty and luxurious to win over customers.

An all-new line of 2.0-liter four-cylinder engines called Ingenium will help in the performance department. The XE will be the first Jaguar with the new engine line, which will include both gasoline and diesel versions, most likely available with multiple power outputs.

While it may sound like a rare element from the planet Xandar, Ingenium appears to be Jaguar’s answer to Volvo’s Drive-E and the small turbocharged engines from Audi, BMW, and Cadillac.

The XE will also be the first Jaguar to use the aluminum-intensive architecture first shown on the C-X17 crossover concept. That means the inevitable production version of the C-X17 will probably share most of its bits with the sedan.

Jaguar says the XE’s styling will emphasize excitement, which isn’t too much of a stretch considering what the company’s other recent designs look like. Expect the XE to take styling cues from its larger siblings, and adapt them to a more compact form.

The Jaguar XE will arrive in the United States in 2016. If that seems like too long of a wait for an entry-level Jag, perhaps consider a used XF instead.

Update: We uploaded new images of the XE chassis and engine.

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