Wednesday 17th August 2005

Jaguar abandons lightweight chassis

Next S-Type to get steel floorpan

---

RD6: S-Type concept

The next Jaguar S-Type, due in 2008, will not be an all-aluminium car like its XJ sibling. Instead, the chassis will be made of steel for cost reasons, while the body alone will be made from the lighter aluminium. This is bound to knock Jaguar's financial planning, as the cost of tooling up for aluminium-bodied cars was meant also to be amortised across the new S-Type.

Online pictures of the RD-6 concept show it to bear a family resemblance to the existing S-Type while looking more ground-hugging. The two headlamps, separate on the current model, are joined by what looks like a semi-transparent strip. It also features the trendy (but for how much longer?) four-door coupé look, where the rear doors' handles are hidden.

Ford is now positioning Jaguar against Porsche rather than BMW, which means that it's expected to make 100,000 cars a year rather than 200,000. As a more exclusive marque, it means the X-Type will disappear when the model reaches the end of its life, as it's part of the youthful image that Jaguar wanted to acquire through the X-Type and its costly F1 adventure -- but which it has mainly failed to achieve.

[JagLover]

Bad news

I was looking forward to the new S type to gain the benefit of the all aluminium construction in a car of smaller dimensions than the XJ.