Jaguar Land Rover: Five debuts in Beijing

British automaker Jaguar Land Rover will debut five models at the 2014 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition from April 20 to 29, showing its emphasis on the Chinese market.

The company said in a statement that the newly released models will be the Jaguar F-TYPE Coupe, Jaguar XF Sportbrake, Land Rover Discovery Vision concept, Range Rover Hybrid and Range Rover Sport Hybrid.

The F-TYPE Coupe has three variants.

The Coupe and Coupe S, both equipped with a 3-liter V6 engine, have peak power of 340 hp and 380 hp respectively.

The Coupe R is equipped with Jaguar's powerful 5-liter V8 supercharged engine with a maximum torque 680 Nm, enabling it to reach a top speed of 300 km/h. It can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.2 seconds.

The XF Sportbrake for the Chinese market, which has a large interior space sufficient for five passengers, is equipped with a 2.0-liter i4 gasoline engine, an eight-speed transmission and an intelligent stop/start system.

In addition to a huge luggage compartment on the back, it also has useful under-floor stowage space and side pockets, offering even more storage space for passengers.

In addition to the two debuts, the Jaguar brand will also celebrate its 10th anniversary in China with its brand ambassador David Beckham attending a gala on April 19, the eve of the Beijing Auto Show.

Among the Land Rover debuts, the most anticipated is the global premiere of the Discovery Vision concept car, which is described by the automaker as an ultimate leisure SUV that uses advanced, customer-focused technologies.

According to the company, the concept car uses Transparent Bonnet technology "allowing a new level of driver awareness with a 'see-through' augmented reality view of the terrain ahead, making the front of the car 'virtually' invisible from inside the cabin".

"It debuts a new, compelling, relevant design direction that connects on an emotional level with customers of today and tomorrow," said Gerry McGovern, design director and chief creative officer of Land Rover.

The release of the Range Rover Hybrid and the Range Rover Sport Hybrid at the Beijing show displays the automaker's commitment to sustainability, according to the company.

Both models deliver outstanding fuel economy by significantly lowering CO2 emissions by 26 percent to 169g/km.

"Jaguar Land Rover highly values the Chinese market - we will offer more models to meet the demand of our consumers," said the company in a statement.

As one of the world's leading premium automakers, Jaguar Land Rover's sales in China have grown robustly in recent years.

In 2013, it sold 95,237 units in China, a 30 percent increase over the previous year.

China is now the largest market for the company.

To meet rising demand, the automaker established a joint venture with China's Chery in November 2012.

The 50-50 joint venture has an assembly plant in Changshu, Jiangsu province scheduled to be operational in the fourth quarter of this year.

huangliying@chinadaily.com.cn