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Jaguar reveals XE with major glitz in London

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Time 7:30 am, September 9, 2014

81442277-9299-43ee-a7ee-ce57dfc417bdJAGUAR has unveiled its new small sports saloon XE at special events across London last night.

The British brand worked with some of show-business’s biggest names for a glitzy unveiling on the River Thames and at Earls Court.

For the past few months, Jaguar has been working with multi-platinum, British singer songwriter Emeli Sandé to create a FEEL XE track. The singer premiered live on the Thames as part of an exclusive 45-minute set on a floating stage positioned in the middle of the river with the London Eye and County Hall as a backdrop.


A crowd of 300 fans watched from a nearby boat and assembled crowds were treated to a projection-mapping spectacle on County Hall that included the public’s social media insights that inspired the song.

And major landmarks in the Capital including The London Eye, County Hall and Shell Building were turned red, while a series of red flares were launched along the river to turn the skyline red during the performance.

Reveal

Jaguar began its celebrations earlier in the night with a star-studded event at Earls Court, the home of 14 Jaguar debuts since 1935.


An audience of more than 3,000 VIP guests were in attendance, including Stella McCartney, David Gandy, Damian Lewis, José Mourinho, Brian Johnson, Sam Riley, Gary Lineker, Ruben Cortada, Example and Sienna Guillory.

The show was narrated by actor John Hannah and included performances by Emeli Sandé, The Kaiser Chiefs, Eliza Doolittle, the Royal Ballet, members of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Max Milner from The Voice.

Each performance brought to life significant moments in the history of Jaguar, from the launch of the SS100 in 1935 to the global success of the current Jaguar line-up. The show culminated in a spectacular reveal of the Jaguar XE, showing its dramatic journey from the new XE state-of-the-art Manufacturing facility in Solihull, UK to Earls Court.

Journey

The journey began with 1,000 employees at Solihull forming an ‘XE’ shape as the Red Arrows flew past in formation as the car was air-lifted by helicopter to start its journey to London.

The helicopter carried the car along the Thames to Tower Bridge before being placed on a high-speed landing craft to continue its journey to Chelsea Harbour. The final leg from Battersea Bridge saw the XE escorted by two 1960s Mark II Jaguar Police Cars into the Earls Court Arena. Six manufacturing Robots formed a Guard of Honour to reveal the car to the seated audience watching live and the thousands watching online around the world.

Phil Popham, group marketing director of Jaguar Land Rover, said: ‘The Jaguar XE is a really exciting car. It will be a true driver’s car that looks great and the £27,000 entry price makes it a very attainable Jaguar. Such a significant car for Jaguar deserved a suitably fitting world premiere here in Britain where the car is designed, engineered and manufactured.’

The XE goes on sale in 2015 with a starting price of around £27k, with the high-performance S model at the top of the range. Full details of the range will be announced at the Paris Motor Show next month.

James Batchelor's avatar

James – or Batch as he’s known – started at Car Dealer in 2010, first as the work experience boy, eventually becoming editor in 2013. He worked for Auto Express as editor-at-large and was the face of Carbuyer’s YouTube reviews. In 2020, he went freelance and now writes for a number of national titles and contributes regularly to Car Dealer. In October 2021 he became Car Dealer's associate editor.



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