Jaguar has highlighted the versatility of its acclaimed C-X17 sports crossover concept vehicle with the luxurious five-seater version at the 2014 Delhi Auto Show in India.
The model features a bespoke ultra-luxury interior incorporating a range of new high-quality design elements in combination with innovative premium infotainment technology.
Introduced at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2013, the C-X17 design study showcased Jaguar’s all-new advanced aluminium monocoque architecture, on which an exciting range of future Jaguars will be built. The modular and scalable vehicle architecture, engineered and developed for Jaguar, is high-strength, lightweight, extremely stiff and incorporates innovative efficiency technologies. It enables flexible high-volume production while allowing creative design freedom and competitive interior packaging, without compromising the unique character, dynamics, performance and luxury that Jaguar is famous for. The new architecture will enable Jaguar to grow its product portfolio, targeting high-growth areas of the premium market.
As a luxurious sports crossover, the latest C-X17 stretches the design possibilities of the segment by combining the character and driving experience of a luxury sports car with increased presence, style and flexibility. The concept represents the potential expansion of Jaguar’s portfolio of body styles, with the associated enhancement of the brand’s appeal to a global audience.
“The luxury sports crossover represents an exciting new direction for Jaguar and highlights the promise and potential of our all-new, advanced aluminium architecture – a technical foundation which will enable a dramatic expansion of Jaguar’s product range as well as its customer appeal. Bringing premium technology to an accessible price segment, combined with new ultra-efficient engines, class-leading dynamics and Jaguar’s renowned beauty and purity of form, we are poised for a monumental leap forward.”
Phil Popham, Group Marketing Director, Jaguar Land Rover
Jaguar’s first product from the advanced aluminium architecture will be a new premium mid-size (C/D) segment sedan. Its global rollout will begin in 2015, and it will be the first aluminium monocoque product in the segment. Jaguars based on the new architecture will be powered by engines with a wide range of capacities and outputs, all delivering inspirational performance and offering the latest innovations in fuel-efficient technologies without sacrificing drivability. These will include the high-output four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines to be built at Jaguar Land Rover’s new UK engine manufacturing facility, as well as the potent V6 petrol engine in the F-TYPE, which will provide best-in-class specific power output thanks to the lightweight architecture. These attributes will enable Jaguar to offer a wider variety of vehicles, with exhilarating performance, top speeds of over 300km/h, as well as class-leading emissions.
The latest C-X17 concept illustrates the diversity of vehicles that could be produced using the architecture. A five-seater luxury sports crossover concept built on the aluminium-intensive architecture; it blends sleek lines, sporting design and innovative sophistication with enhanced flexibility and an assured driving position. In its harmonious yet exciting proportions, purity of form and its beautiful lines – overseen by Director of Design Ian Callum – the C-X17 is every inch a Jaguar.
The C-X17 offers refined driving dynamics and sedan car-like handling across urban and country roads, thanks to its low height, optimised centre of gravity and use of cutting-edge dynamic technologies. The C-X17 places a high emphasis on intelligent safety with Torque Vectoring by Braking, in which the car intelligently uses its brake system to finely balance the distribution of engine torque to individual wheels during cornering, thereby enhancing vehicle stability and control by reducing understeer and maximising grip. C-X17 also debuts additional innovative safety features including Rear Exit Detection, developed with the India market in mind, which uses sensors to warn exiting passengers of quickly-approaching hazards, such as cyclists and mopeds, in the path of the vehicle’s opening doors.
“We designed the C-X17 from the ground up from a distinct set of principles, a deep sense of what makes a Jaguar: exciting proportions, clean lines, balance of form. Assertive and powerful, yet with a beautiful sensuality about it, the C-X17 is boldly, distinctively Jaguar.”
Ian Callum, Design Director, Jaguar
At 4,718mm long and 1,649mm tall, the C-X17’s dimensions are clearly that of a crossover, yet in its design it shares strong family traits with Jaguar’s current range. For instance, the grille is an evolution of the distinctive nose of the Jaguar XJ luxury sedan, while the sculptured haunch lines hint strongly at the award-winning design of the Jaguar F-TYPE sports car. A low-sitting stance and overall profile combine with 23-inch alloy wheels to give the C-X17 a sporting, aggressive presence, while the LED headlamps, J-shaped running lights and frosted-glass foglights set into the large front intakes add to the C-X17’s purposeful intent. The latest C-X17’s exterior is painted in a lustrous Liquid Gold metal finish, with gloss black elements surrounding the windows, while the split-five-spoke alloys have a dark ruthenium finish.
The spacious interior of the five-seater C-X17 is luxuriously appointed, yet designed for a sculpted, lightweight appearance. The unique roof features contoured vanes that provide a distinctive ‘elliptical’ panoramic view for the C-X17’s five passengers, while retaining the roof’s sleek appearance from the exterior. Two additional rear-mounted leisure seats incorporated into the wood-lined boot floor swing out for recreational use. Accessories that support an active lifestyle, such as a torch and a camera, are positioned in storage compartments in the boot. The C-X17’s bespoke interior marries premium, authentic materials and traditional British craftsmanship with modern finishing techniques. It features a luxurious combination of Jet and Tan leather – made by British premium leather specialists Connolly and Bridge of Weir – on the dash, seats, armrests, floor and in the boot. A classy, subtle layered effect is created through the use of traditionally-inspired Brogue-perforated saddle leather patches on the main leather panels. Ruthenium, milled aluminium and black brushed anodised metal finishes impart a darker tonal effect to the C-X17’s interior. The interior door finish is waxed Clay Walnut wood.
A centre tunnel running part way down the length of the cabin, from the instrument panel into the rear passenger area just behind the front seats, incorporates the innovative Interactive Surface Console, an interactive multi-passenger infotainment hub with a series of touchscreens under a continuous panel of transparent acrylic glass which, in conjunction with the secure in-car Wi-Fi network, enables the vehicle’s passengers to connect and share experiences with each other and the outside world via social media. The C-X17’s ultra-premium, 28-loudspeaker in-car digital audio system has been specially designed for the vehicle by British specialist audio firm Meridian, and the car’s centre console is configured for a Head Up Display projector.
SPECIFICATIONS: Aluminium Architecture | Panoramic sculpted roof | two-tone leather trim | Multi-passenger interactivity | Rear exit detection sensors | Meridian audio system | 4718mm length | 2905mm wheelbase | 1649mm height | 213mm ground clearance
