A report in British car media outlet Autocar claims that Jaguar is discontinuing the XE S and XF S sport sedans in the U.K.. Not only are those trims gone, but the supercharged 3.0-liter V6 engine will no longer be available at all in the XE or the XF in their home market, if the report is to be believed.
Supercharging has long been a part of Jaguar’s heritage. Unfortunately, heritage only takes you so far and doesn’t always translate into sales. An unnamed Jaguar representative allegedly told Autocar that the take rate for supercharged XE and XF models is less than 2 percent which is a pretty good reason to discontinue those options. “Coupled with impending emissions regulation changes, it makes sense to remove these variants from sale in the [U.K.],” Jaguar told Autocar.
Europe is tightening emissions regulations and it would likely be possible to make the supercharged V6 compliant with the new laws, but simply wouldn’t be worth the cost involved because of how few are sold. However, the U.S. isn’t subject to those tough emissions regulations which could be good news for supercharged Jaguar sedans in North America.
Not surprisingly, Jaguar declined to comment when we asked about the rumor. However, Jaguar product communications manager Nathan Hoyt did reiterate for us in an email that “the V6 is still very much around and in our portfolio.” He also reminded us that it’s currently offered in the 2018 Jaguar XE, XF, XE S, XF S, XJ, F-Type, F-Pace, and several Land Rover offerings including the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Range Rover Velar, and Discovery.
So for now, it sounds like the supercharged V6 is safe for Jaguar sedans in the States. However, we can see a future where if you want a supercharged JLR product, you need to either get a Jaguar sports car or upsize to a Land Rover.