With premium automakers not shying away from going
small, despite the C-segment being so competitive and price conscious, Jaguar
continues to plow through without a 1-Series rival. A couple of years ago,
Jaguar design boss Ian Callum said that "there's always space to go
smaller - the world is changing very quickly," which means that a 5-door
C-segment car remains a possibility, although we haven't heard any rumors in
that direction for quite some time.
In terms of design, while this is a decent CGI
attempt from Kleber Silva, it's just not working for us, as we reckon Jaguar
would go for something a lot sleeker and certainly less bulbous, like the
I-Pace.
If the British automaker could figure
out a way to scale down their iQ platform to accommodate such a model, and then
work out how to package the interior properly, then they could seize that
opportunity and throw another competitor at the likes of Mercedes-Benz, Audi
and BMW.
Currently, the premium compact hatch segment only
features the Mercedes A-Class, Audi A3, BMW 1-Series, Infiniti Q30, Lexus CT
and the Volvo V40. Judging by its latest products, if Jaguar were to enter the
class, it could have a winner in its hands.
