Jaguar’s first-ever SUV will be called the F-Pace, the British automaker has confirmed on the eve of this week’s 2015 Detroit Auto Show. Coinciding with the announcement of the new name, Jaguar released a teaser of its F-Pace and confirmed that the vehicle will be on sale in 2016, meaning we’ll likely see it arrive as a 2017 model.
Although the teaser doesn’t reveal much, we already have a pretty good idea as to what the F-Pace will look like thanks to the sighting of numerous prototypes as well as Jaguar’s C-X17 concept car from 2013. Thankfully, the F-Pace is expected to look almost identical to the striking C-X17 concept.
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But what’s up with the F-Pace name? Surely one of the rumored names like “XQ” or “Q-Type” would have been a better choice. According to Jaguar design chief Ian Callum, F-Pace provides a better link with Jaguar’s F-Type sports car, which has become a quasi-halo model for the brand now that the XK is no longer in production.
![Jaguar Land Rover CEO Ralph Speth (left) and head designer Ian Callum Jaguar Land Rover CEO Ralph Speth (left) and head designer Ian Callum](https://images.hgmsites.net/lrg/jaguar-c-x17-concept-2013-frankfurt-auto-show_100439211_l.jpg)
Jaguar Land Rover CEO Ralph Speth (left) and head designer Ian Callum
That’s right. Jaguar doesn’t want you to think of the F-Pace as a regular SUV but rather as a sports car that’s also a practical five-seater. The vehicle will take on the likes of the BMW X3 and Mercedes-Benz GLC (next-gen GLK-Class) in the premium small crossover segment but will be set apart by brilliant dynamics and fuel efficiency made possible by an advanced lightweight aluminum platform.
That new platform is the iQ[Al] that recently debuted in the 2017 XE sedan. Derived from the Premium Lightweight Architecture used by Land Rover, the iQ[Al] is a scalable vehicle platform designed not only to be light but also extremely stiff. It’s also been designed to incorporate innovative efficiency technologies such as diesel, plug-in hybrid and even battery-powered electric powertrains, and it also features some pretty sophisticated chassis technology like Instinctive All-Wheel Drive and All Surface Progress Control.
![2016 Jaguar Q-Type spy shots 2016 Jaguar Q-Type spy shots](https://images.hgmsites.net/lrg/2016-jaguar-q-type-spy-shots_100464108_l.jpg)
2016 Jaguar Q-Type spy shots
Production of the F-Pace will be handled at Jaguar Land Rover’s Solihull plant in the U.K. A reveal should take place later in 2015, a year that also marks Jaguar’s 80th in business.
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