Jaguar is adding a new SUV to its lineup — the E-PACE

Jaguar E-PACE

(The new E-PACE.Jaguar)

Just a year after rolling out its first-ever SUV, the gorgeous F-PACE, Jaguar announced that it's adding to it crossover lineup.

It's called the "E-PACE," and it will give Jag a smaller and less expensive SUV to round out that aspect of its portfolio.

The E-PACE will be priced at $38,600, putting it in the same competitive ballpark as the BMW X3, the Mercedes GLC, and the Audi Q5.

"The E-PACE will be the third new Jaguar nameplate recently added to the Jaguar model portfolio following the introduction of the Jaguar XE sports sedan and Jaguar F-PACE performance SUV which have contributed to a 44 percent sales growth for the Jaguar brand in the U.S. through May 2017, and the all-electric I-PACE Concept which will go into production in 2018," Jaguar said in a statement.

Designer Ian Callum — who achieved immortality with the F-PACE, the best-looking SUV in human history — added, “The combination of sports car looks with Jaguar performance will ensure that the E-PACE stands out," and continued "[e]very Jaguar is designed to excite the senses, and we think E-PACE will do just that, albeit with its own individual character.”

Jaguar F PACE 1

(The F-PACE.Hollis Johnson)

The new SUVs couldn't come soon enough for Jaguar, which has labored in the US market especially with a compelling roster of sedans and sports cars, but no luxury crossovers at a time when consumers have been snapping them up.

F-PACE changed that, but Jaguar had nothing on the more entry level front.

If the smaller SUV is as good as the F-PACE, a runner-up for BI's 2016 Car of the Year, then Jaguar can look forward to some robust sales.

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