X Marks the Spot

Changes are afoot in the motor industry, and nowhere is this shown better than at Jaguar. Frankly, such is the daily proliferation of news stories coming out of the company, it is hard to keep up to date with where things are at. But Jaguar has committed itself to an all-electric future, and from 2025 will be producing nothing but battery-powered vehicles.

Thus, it is perhaps a good time to look back at some of the more momentous events during Jaguar’s ICE history, and one of those is undoubtedly the 2001 launch of the X-Type compact executive saloon.

Few cars have proven to be more controversial than the X-Type. Criticised at launch for looking too retro to take the fight to the BMW 3 Series and Audi A4, and underpinned by a Ford platform that was used by the Mondeo, the X-Type was plagued by questions over its authenticity as a Jaguar.

Looking back with the benefit of hindsight, these perceived flaws didn’t harm the model’s sales to any significant degree, and by the time production ended in 2009, well over 300,000 X-Types had been produced. Not bad for a ‘tarted-up Mondeo’, eh?

I must confess to always having something of a soft spot for the model. Despite being only a nipper, I can remember the hubbub that surrounded the launch, the significance of a ‘baby Jaguar’ coming to market with a comparatively attainable price tag. The extravagantly produced television advertisement, with Chris Isaak’s ‘Wicked Game’ providing the music, hit the spot, too.

A Mondeo in drag? While the X-Type did indeed sit on the same platform as the contemporary Mondeo, Jag’s engineers went to great lengths to distinguish their new baby. A dedicated four-wheel drive system was added to the underpinnings, the compact rear suspension being taken from the Mondeo estate to allow the fitment of a differential. V6 engines certainly endowed the Jag with performance and refinement, and it wasn’t as though the Mondeo was a bad starting point; quite the contrary.

The retro-inspired design of the X-Type disguised a thoroughly capable and convincingly sporty saloon. Maybe it was that design which prevented the car from achieving even higher sales figures than it did. Even in the sporty trim levels, those four circular headlamps and traditional-looking grille, coupled with the curvy profile, were very obviously Jaguar, and so in much the same way as Rover did with its retro-themed 75, Jag ended up with a look that many young, thrusting executive types turned their noses up at.

This blog isn’t a buying guide, so we’ll leave the rather thorny issue of sill rust to one side. Jaguar’s debut entry into the burgeoning junior executive class did better than its critics would have you believe, and, rather than being viewed as a missed opportunity, I believe the X-Type should be seen as a significant moment in the story of Jaguar as a brand.