JLR launches petrol-powered sports car Jaguar XE

Vehicle to come in 2 trims - Jaguar XE Petrol Pure at Rs 39.9 lakh and Petrol Portfolio at Rs 46.5 lakh

Marking a change in strategy following the Delhi-NCR ban on diesel vehicles, luxury car maker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) today launched its sports car Jaguar XE in the country with a petrol engine. The company will also bring in a diesel variant in the future. The sports vehicle will be locally manufactured at the company's Pune plant.

Rohit Suri, president at Jaguar Land Rover India said to meet the growing demand for petrol vehicles we have introduced the Jaguar XE in two petrol engine derivatives. The vehicle comes in two trims: Jaguar XE Petrol Pure, priced at Rs 39.9 lakh (ex showroom, Delhi) and Petrol Portfolio priced at Rs 46.5 lakh.

The Supreme Court had imposed a ban on sales of diesel vehicles with an engine capacity of 2 litre and above in mid December in Delhi and national capital region to address the rising pollution. The ban is in place till March 31.

The ban had impacted sales of several companies such as Mahindra and Mahindra, Toyota, Mercedes and Jaguar Land Rover. Mahindra last month introduced a 1.99 litre Diesel engine to power models like XUV 500 that took a hit following the SC ban.

Gurmeet Singh Anand, managing director of AMP Motors, the only dealer for JLR in the national capital region told Business Standard that the company is offering petrol variant first keeping in consideration the changing circumstances. "Customers are asking for petrol variants now as diesel is banned", he said.