Jaguar F-Pace crossover to debut in Frankfurt

Jaguar’s first crossover, the F-Pace, will make its debut in production form at the Frankfurt auto show, the British automaker confirmed today.

The company revealed the first details about the F-Pace, too, though there’s not a whole lot to sink our teeth into. Jag is quite keen to promote the F-Pace’s links to the brand’s car models: it will get torque vectoring tech borrowed from the F-Type sports car, and an electric power steering system that’s “similar” to the F-Type’s. It will also adopt the ‘lightweight aluminum architecture’ that forms the basis of the forthcoming XE compact sedan.

Though we get the feeling Jaguar is still getting used to the term ‘crossover’ as it relates to its vehicle lineup: “The new F-PACE will reward drivers and passengers alike with a blend of agility and comfort that is unique to the small performance SUV segment; making it the most practical Jaguar sports car ever.”

No surprise that the F-Pace will have a torque-on-demand AWD setup; Jaguar doesn’t talk about engines, but we would consider it curious if the 2.0L turbodiesel four-cylinder announced for the XE wasn’t part of the F-Pace portfolio right from the start, as it’d give Jag an oil burner to compete with diesel models from Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz. Count on the 340-hp, 3.0L supercharged V6 from the F-Type and XF to make an appearance–that motor’s specs nearly match those of the Porsche Macan S’ turbo V6–along with an eight-speed automatic transmission.

The burning question for bigger spenders is whether there will be a high-performance F-Pace R variant; Jag is rumoured to be working on a V8-powered XE-R, and the links between the XE and F-Pace make it easy to speculate a speedy crossover as a real possibility.

As for an on-sale date, Jaguar gets no more specific than to say its first foray into the crossover segment will reach showrooms “in 2016;” the automaker doesn’t even specify a model year, but we figure it’ll be a 2017. More certain is its appearance in Frankfurt, which will happen on September 15, at 10:30 am, local time. We’ll have more details and photos to share then.