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Kia Seltos, electric Cadillac and a looming Bronco | Autoblog Podcast #615

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder, and Associate Editor Byron Hurd makes his ABP debut. This week, they start with the cars they've been driving: the Jaguar XE, Kia Seltos, Hyundai Venue and Ford Escape. Then they dig into the news, including an upcoming Cadillac EV, Lincoln and Chevy sedans and the Ford Bronco. Finally, they help a listener replace his Jeep Patriot in the Spend My Money segment. Autoblog Podcast #615 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Cars we're driving: Jaguar XE 300 R-Dynamic S Kia Seltos Hyundai Venue Ford Escape Cadillac bringing EV to New York Auto Show Chevy and Lincoln dealers say they still want sedans Ford tells dealers the Bronco is weeks away from its global debut Spend My Money Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video: 2020 Ford Escape 2.0T #POV drive

2013 Jaguar XF 3.0 Supercharged

Generally speaking, I don't get too upset about the growing need to replace displacement in modern cars. Sure, there are exceptions (don't you touch my 6.2-liter AMG V8), but honestly, the industry's new forced induction powertrains are all lovely, and their gains in fuel economy - when they actually make good on them - can make up for the ever-so-slight losses in performance or driving character.
But I'm having a hard time keeping my chin up with this Jaguar XF. For the 2013 model year, Jaguar has killed off the naturally aspirated 5.0-liter V8 and fitted a supercharged 3.0-liter V6 with an eight-speed automatic in its place (and even offers a turbocharged four-cylinder engine below that). That all sounds perfectly well and good, but a week behind the wheel of this British Racing Green sedan just left me missing that V8. And then some.
Driving Notes

Jaguar could replace two of its slow-selling sedans with a compact hatchback

Jaguar needs a home run, and it might merge the slow-selling XE and XF into a single model in a swing for the fences. The company is considering several ways to replace its two smallest sedans, and one option on the table is filling the gaps they'll create with a compact hatchback that would take Jaguar into a segment it's never been in before. Nothing is official yet, and Jaguar still hasn't ruled out developing a direct successor to each model, but British magazine Autocar learned at least two other options are being evaluated. Julian Thomson, the company's design boss, suggested their spot might be filled by a city-friendly hatch that would stretch about 177 inches from bumper to bumper, a figure that would catapult it into a segment dominated by the Audi A3, the BMW 1 Series, and the Mercedes-Benz A-Class. It would lure a new set of customers into the company's global showrooms. "I'd love to do smaller cars, and it feels as though the time is right. Jaguar needs a global product that could appeal to younger buyers, and more females as well," Thomson the publication. Although that's simple on paper, it's a lot more difficult to achieve in real life. "It's a tough sector. You need big numbers, which means big factories, and a big organization to sell them. But that's definitely where I would like us to be." Jaguar would need to find a cost-effective way to build the model. Developing an architecture from scratch is one possibility, though it's an expensive one for a company whose financial foundations are shaky at best. It could use its new MLA platform if it's flexible enough to underpin a small car, or it could ask BMW — which it's linked to via several on-going partnerships — to use the front-wheel-drive UKL architecture found under the aforementioned 1. One point the original report doesn't address is that, while a hatchback in the vein of the A3 would do well in Europe, it would fall flat on its face in the United States. That's why Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz all added a trunk to their Euro-flavored hatches for American buyers who prefer three-box sedans. Jaguar would either need to do the same, meaning it would replace two sedans with a hatchback turned into a sedan, or it would end up giving up thousands of sales in one of the world's largest car markets, which would be counterintuitive. Another possibility floated by Autocar is replacing the XE (pictured) and the XF with a compact sedan described as eco-focused.