Jaguar F-Pace likely to be launched in India on October 20; bookings to open soon

British luxury car-maker Jaguar is inching closer to the launch of its first crossover SUV, the F-Pace, in India. Emerging reports indicate the company will launch the vehicle on October 20 and bookings will be open soon.

The first SUV of the brand is also the fastest-selling Jaguar vehicle in the company's history of 94 years. The company claims 90 percent of over 30,000 cars sold since the global launch of the SUV in April this year has been sold to customers who are completely new to the brand and fall in the age bracket of 40 to 50 years.

Jaguar Land Rover India had showcased the F-Pace at the Auto Expo 2016. Ahead of the India launch, the company website already listed F-Pace with information on powertrain and variants. The F-Pace will be sold in three variants in India – Pure, Prestige and R-Sport. The first two variants will be powered by a four-cylinder 2.0-litre diesel engine that develops 177bhp at 4,000rpm and 430Nm of torque in the range of 1,750rpm to 2,500rpm. The engine will propel F-Pace's Pure and Prestige variants to reach 100kmph speed in 8.7 seconds before reaching top speed of 208kmph.

The R-Sport and First Edition will be powered by a six-cylinder 3.0-litre diesel engine that develops 296bhp at 4,000rpm and 700Nm of torque at 2,000rpm onwards. The engine powers top variants to zoom past 100kmph in 6.2 seconds and can reach 241kmph. Both the engines are mated to eight-speed automatic transmission and automatic AWD system.

The performance crossover of Jaguar sports a headlamp design inspired from the XE sedan, while the taillamps design is inspired from the F-Type. The new model rides on aluminium-intensive platform, which saves a lot of weight. The F-Pace measures 4,731mm in length, 2,175mm in width and 1,652mm in height. It has a 2,874mm wheelbase, and ground clearance of 213mm.

Jaguar F-Pace will be pitted against Porsche Macan, Audi Q5 and BMW X3 with an expected price of close to Rs. 60 lakh.