Dubbed InControl, the new eight-inch touch-screen infotainment system touts quick and easy access to all features and functions, plus voice control. There’s also an “industry-first” laser head-up display that projects sharp, high-contrast colour images on to the windscreen.

Also, InControl Remote allows iOS and Android users to connect their phones to the car from wherever they are, allowing control of a range of vehicle functions, including seven-day timed pre-setting of the climate control system, locking or unlocking the doors, starting the engine or even locating the car in a parking lot.

Through InControl Apps, smartphone apps can be seamlessly accessed through the touch-screen, so you can do things like make a conference call, find a parking space or book a hotel room. The XE also functions as a WiFi hotspot, enabling multiple devices to connect to the internet.

The Jaguar XE is slated to be powered by the new Ingenium family of engines, which will also be shared with Land Rover. The modular mills – in V8, V6 and four-cylinder forms – will share the same bore, stroke, cylinder spacing, 500 cc capacity per cylinder and many common internal components as well as feature turbocharging.

Thanks to a body that’s over three quarters aluminium, expect the XE to be one of the lightest cars in its segment. As a result, the carmaker targets a fuel economy of under four litres per 100 km on the combined EU cycle for the most frugal model.

Along with a new "Integral Link" rear suspension, an F-Type-derived front suspension and enhanced electric power steering, the young Coventry cat should handle as well as it looks. Designed and engineered in the UK, the XE will be the first Jag manufactured at a new purpose-built facility at the company’s Solihull plant.