Jaguar shows C-X17 aluminum crossover at Frankfurt

Jaguar’s first ever sports crossover concept vehicle – the C-X17 – makes its debut at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show.

The C-X17 has been created as a design study to introduce Jaguar’s all-new advanced aluminum unibody architecture on which an exciting range of future Jaguar vehicles will be built. This new philosophy underpins the entire innovative future of the Jaguar brand.  A modular and scalable vehicle architecture, engineered and developed for Jaguar, the architecture is high-strength, lightweight, extremely stiff and incorporates innovative efficiency technologies. It enables flexible high-volume production while allowing creative design freedom and competitive interior packaging, and delivering the unique character, dynamics, performance and luxury that Jaguar is famous for. This will enable Jaguar to grow its product portfolio, targeting high-growth areas of the premium market.

As a sports crossover, the Jaguar C-X17 stretches the design possibilities of the segment by combining the character and driving experience of a sports car with increased presence, style and flexibility. The sports crossover concept represents the potential expansion of Jaguar’s portfolio of body styles, with the associated enhancement of the brand’s relevance and appeal to a wider global audience.

Jaguar’s first product from the new architecture will be a new premium C/D segment sedan. Its global rollout will begin in 2015, and in North America in 2016, and it will be the first aluminum unibody product in the segment.

Power will be provided by engines with a wide range of capacities and output, all delivering inspirational performance and offering the latest innovations in fuel-efficient technologies without sacrificing drivability. These will include the high-output gasoline and diesel engines to be built at Jaguar Land Rover’s new engine manufacturing facility in the UK, as well as the powerful V6 gasoline engine in the F-TYPE. These attributes will enable Jaguar to offer a wider variety of vehicles, with exhilarating performance, top speeds of over 300km/h, as well as emissions below 100g of CO₂ per kilometer.

The C-X17 concept illustrates the diversity of vehicles that could be produced using the architecture. A four-seater sports crossover concept built on the aluminum-intensive architecture; it blends sleek lines, sporting design and luxurious sophistication with enhanced flexibility and an assured driving position. In its exciting proportions, purity of form and its beautiful lines – overseen by Director of Design Ian Callum – the C-X17 is every inch a Jaguar car.

The C-X17 could offer refined on-road dynamics and sedan car-like handling, thanks to its low height, optimized center of gravity, and use of cutting-edge dynamic technologies such as Torque Vectoring in which the car intelligently uses its brake system to balance the distribution of engine torque to the wheels during cornering, reducing understeer and maximizing grip.

At 4,718mm long and 1,649mm tall, its dimensions are clearly that of a crossover, yet in its design it shares strong family traits with Jaguar’s current range. For instance, the grille is an evolution of the distinctive nose of the Jaguar XJ luxury sedan, while the sculptured haunch lines hint strongly of the award-winning design of the Jaguar F-Type sports car. A low-sitting stance and overall profile combine with 23-inch alloy wheels to give the C-X17 a sporting, aggressive presence, while the LED headlamps, J-shaped running lights and frosted-glass foglights set into the large front intakes add to the C-X17 vehicle’s purposeful intent. The C-X17 is painted in a lustrous Cesium Blue finish, with gloss black brightwork surrounding the windows, while the split five-spoke alloys are Dark Atlas Graphite with gloss black finishers.

The interior of the C-X17 features four individual bucket seats, which are luxuriously appointed, yet designed for a sculpted, lightweight appearance. The car’s unique roof features contoured vanes that provide a distinctive ‘elliptical’ panoramic view to the C-X17 vehicle’s passengers, while retaining the roof’s sleek appearance from the exterior. Two additional rear-mounted leisure seats incorporated in the cargo area floor swing out for recreational use. Accessories such as a flashlight and a camera are positioned in storage compartments in the cargo area.