Jaguar working on small car

As the impressive F-Type sports car finally hits the road, with the first Australian deliveries set for August, the focus at the British brand has switched to an all-new model range to sit below the top selling XF.

It will provide rivals to the Audi A4, BMW 3 Series, Lexus IS and Mercedes-Benz C-Class, although company insiders stress that the cars will be uniquely Jaguar.

No-one at the cutting edge of Jaguar's development teams is prepared to comment on the compact car crew, but there are plenty of hints. And they go back as far as the compact RD6 concept car of 2003.

It's likely that the first kitty Cat - most likely a four-door sedan - has already been cleared for production, since it takes a minimum of two years to convert the final styling design into a vehicle that's running down the production line. And everything points to a 2015 launch for the car.

Jaguar is now running extremely profitably, just like its sister brand Land Rover, with each new model funding the next.

It is also adding new spin-offs of its existing models, with the high performance RS version of the XF sedan coming within months together with the speedy luxo
XJ-S model.

Jaguar Land Rover is committed to spending of more than $4 billion each year for the next four years as it stretches its lineup and adds extra production capacity for everything from the top selling Range Rover and Range Rover Sport to the 3 Series rival. It sold 355,000 vehicles last year, the majority in the SUV class.

There are plans for 16 individual models in the Land Rover range, including the successor to the geriatric Defender.

It is also building its offshore assembly operation, recently confirming a joint venture with Chery in China, assembling the Jaguar XF and Land Rover Freelander in India, and looking for another potential site in Saudi Arabia.

"You have to invest in big amounts of seed in order to reap the harvest, which is what we are doing," company chief Ralf Speth said recently.

There is also longer-term work on the XF, XJ and XK successor models, which are expected to be spun from a reduced number of production platforms to cut costs and complexity.

"We're now looking at models some way into the future," the Jaguar spokesman, Paul Chadderton, tells Carsguide.

"But nothing we're doing is particularly outrageous."

Design director, Julian Thompson, also confirms that funding and directions are in place for the longer-term future at Jaguar.

"We're looking at cars for 2018 and beyond," he tells Carsguide.

This reporter is on Twitter @paulwardgover