Jaguar's sports car replacement for the XK, the F-Type, may have only been with us since as recently as 2013, but thoughts are already turning towards its eventual replacement, which it appears will have to be electrified to some degree. Production plans in the auto industry have to cover pretty long periods as it understandably takes quite some time to take a new model from the drawing board to the production line. But recent industry developments and trends mean today's models will probably have a shorter shelf life than their predecessors, so the current F-Type might not be with us as long as we may have normally expected.
The ever-increasing popularity of SUVs and the ongoing improvement in how they perform is a threat to many other types of vehicles, and the need to become better on exhaust emissions is also a driving factor in the current pace of development.
Ian Callum, who has led the Jaguar design team now since 1999, has confirmed the British luxury manufacturer won't be abandoning the sports car segment as he's convinced sports cars will not be going away anytime soon.
Speaking to the Automotive News publication, Callum said, "We will do another range of sports cars eventually." He went on to add, "There are a number of people in the world who think sports cars are finished because SUVs can get around a corner as quick as a sports car can, technology being what it is. But there is something very emotional about a sports car that conveys the ultimate in the sense of performance and design."
Callum wouldn't be drawn on when the F-Type would be replaced, but Jaguar Land Rover's North America CEO, Joe Eberhardt, did state the car will have an electrified powertrain. Eberhardt confirmed, "Every new car launched after 2020 will have some form of electrification. That is full electric, plug-in hybrid or mild hybrids."
Jaguar sold 2,787 units of the F-Type through August of this year, which is some 41 more than were sold during the same period last year. However, according to JATO Dynamics, sales of the F-Type in Europe dropped by as much as 0.5 percent to 2,992 units sold through July this year.
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