Last night the BMW 3 Series rivalling Jaguar XE debuted at London’s Earls Court with a bigger debut with full details set for next month’s Paris Motor Show.

The XE is expected to become a very important model for Jaguar. Shown here is the range-topping XE S featuring already familiar styling, boasting a sporty front fascia, prominent grille, slender headlights, sculpted bonnet, chrome side vents, a trunk-mounted spoiler, a dual exhaust system and optional 20-inch alloy wheels.

The interior is quite minimalist and typical to current Jaguar range with different high-quality fabrics and leather upholstery.

The XE rides on an all-new aluminium-intensive monocoque with power coming from new 2.0-litre Ingenium four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines linked to six-speed manual and eight-speed automatic transmissions. The diesel unit is promising to return 75mpg with full details to be released next month.

However Jaguar did reveal full details on the range-topping XE S with a supercharged 335bhp 3.0-litre V6 linked to an eight-sped automatic transmission with paddle shift controls, taking the sporty saloon from 0-60mph in 4.9 seconds on its way to an electronically limited top speed of 155mph.

The XE is also the lightest and stiffest Jaguar saloon, as well as most aerodynamic Jaguar ever made with Cd 0.26.

Other newsworthy highlights include electric power steering, All Surface Progress Control system, traffic sign recognition, reverse traffic detection and an autonomous emergency braking system.

The XE range pricing starts from £27,000 and market launch is next year.