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Jaguar F-Type price to start at $139,000


Anyone who wants a truly affordable F-Type Jaguar will have to wait a while. The starting price for the F-Type convertible is set today at $139,000, right between the Porsche Boxster S and 911, but the bottom line is likely to fall by at least $10,000 in late 2014 when the Cat coupe arrives.

The convertible is the obvious early focus as Jaguar finally gets serious about sports cars for the first time since the 1960s, with a car that reinvents the classic E-Type.

There are three models of F-Type convertible - at least for now - with the V6-powered starter car at $139,000, the F-Type S V6 at $171,400 and the V8 S at $202,300.

“It's a relative bargain in Australia. And it is a lot of car,” says Jaguar's brand manager for Australia, Mark Eedle.

“This car does what the box says. This is all about performance.”

He rejects any suggestion that the F-Type is over-priced, and says the car sits right on target and that Australian buyers are getting a good deal.

“We have worked very hard to make this car as affordable as possible. If you look at some of the other markets, we're doing alright. Some people might think it's not as affordable as they hoped, but it is more affordable than lots of other countries,” Eedle says.

But the timing for the F-Type announcement is not good, as the Boxster S has just had a $6000 price cut in Australia that means it's now starting at $126,500.

“There is white space between the Boxster S and 911. All along we've been talking about where we are positioning the car, and the pricing is exactly that,” says Eedle.

“It wasn't intended to be head-to-head against Boxster S. So it shouldn't have been expected to be on their pricing.”

Carsguide gets a first drive in the F-Type later this week in Spain, driving all three models. The basic F-Type has a 3-litre supercharged V6 that makes 250 kiloWatts for a claimed 0-100km/h time of 5.3 seconds - with standard equipment including 18-inch alloys, performance brakes, sports suspension and exhaust - while the V6-powered S jumps to 280 kiloWatts and 4.9 seconds, with the supercharged 5-litre petrol V8 producing 364 kiloWatts for a sprint time of 4.3 seconds.

“We're talking about the sporting bloodline with this car. It you look at the E-Type it was 1961. It's been a lazy 52-year break since then,” Eedle says. “The F-Type was designed as a true sports car, not a grand tourer. This is taking us into the hard-core driver's segment. It's 911 all over.”

Eedle refuses to discuss the upcoming F-Type coupe, or the potential for R and RS models with even better performance, even though they are clearly part of Jaguar's planning. “We don't comment on future product. But Jaguar's brand ambassador Adrian Hallmark is on record as saying 'It's a car we can do so many things with',” he says.


This reporter is on Twitter: @PaulWardGover