2018 Jaguar XE vs 2019

What's the difference?

Mid-size sedans were once the ultimate measure of a premium carmaker; not just the biggest seller in a brand's portfolio, but the ultimate gateway drug for young executives who would (hopefully) step up to bigger and more expensive models as their pay-packets ballooned.

But then, SUVs happened. And suddenly sedans didn't matter quite so much. If at all.

Take BMW, for example. The German marque shifted a total of 4451 units across its 3-Series and 4-Series range last year, a number now dwarfed by the 5171 units across the X3 and X4 SUV family over the same period.

And that shift is even more pronounced with a smaller brand like Jaguar. The UK marque shifted just 791 units of its XE sedan last year, while the F-Pace SUV moved 1275 units over the same period. And that’s a gap that will only get wider. 

And yet, having just spent a week in the snarling Jaguar XE S - all supercharged V6 and howling exhaust - we are left with one truly burning question; why?

Why are we climbing out of super athletic sedans and into stodgy SUVs? Why are we trading dynamics for ride height? And why do I have to give this back?

Jaguar’s XE is the leaping cat’s answer to a well-established trio of compact luxury sedans from the German ‘Big Three’ – Audi’s A4, the BMW 3 Series, and Mercedes-Benz’s C-Class.

Throw in the recently arrived Alfa Giulia and feature-packed Lexus IS and you’ve got yourself a six-way cage fight for supremacy in this relatively small but highly profitable part of the new car market.

All offer performance variants ranging from mild to utterly wild, and at around $80k the new XE 300 Sport hovers in the middle of that speed and equipment spectrum.

We spent a week behind the wheel to determine whether its racy aesthetics are matched by its dynamic abilities.