Cars being helicoptered over London, taking over Earls Court, the Kaiser Chiefs and Emile Sande and a full West End-style show. Jaguar didn't spare any horses in launching the all-new XE in London tonight.
Rightly this got the media talking, but when the launch fever dies down it's all about the car. As it should be because it's a crucial one for Jaguar.
It's a looker no doubt. In the metal it looks lower and sleeker than a BMW 3-series. Somewhere between that and a 4-series Gran Coupe to these eyes. Not flashy or avant-garde, mind you, but exactly where it needs to be for this market.
The same applies inside. I'd say that the new Mercedes C-class may just have the edge, but it's close. And it looks and feels way better than the BMW.
That roofline doesn't appear to have done any damage to rear space either. Again, it seems to be as good as the Merc or Audi A4.
In short, unless it's a disaster to drive (and that's unlikely - let's face it) it should be a tough rival for the Germans.
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Oh!,by the way.
A46 wrote
This is interesting, the editor has had experience of both but says that the C-Class has the edge. You welcome the fact that the editor, with first hand experience, appreciates the quality of the XE but you choose to dismiss his opinion of the C-Class. Why is this?
Well I think
Think Chas is on the money. If the interior looks and feels good the only real question-mark (remember they are only talking about 100,000 cars pa world-wide) will be the infotainment set-up. I had an XKR for three years and using the sat nav was like being transported back in time to about 2004.