Jaguar's new XE borrows the I-Pace's interior

The Jaguar XE is a good saloon car. Handsome. Good to drive. While it might not have the heavyweight sales of the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes C-Class, it remains a desirable thing. Here’s the facelifted version.

It’s a mild tweak for the exterior, Jaguar using the F-Type as inspiration. Fine by us. There are new full LED head- and tail-lights, wider front apertures, and a new rear bumper. Like we said, mild. R-Design cars get sportier exterior accoutrements, along with sports seats and some interior chrome.

Ah yes, the interior – it’s where most of the updates have come, and where most sales will probably be clinched. Jaguar tells us the new XE is filled with lots of soft-touch materials and ‘premium’ veneers, new door trims and even better storage.

The old rotary gear selector has been binned in favour of the shift lever used in that F-Type. Phew. The I-Pace donates its steering wheel and pair of high-res touchscreens to the little Jag too, and you get something called ‘ClearSight’: a rear view mirror fed by a wide-angle rear facing camera. Cool.

You get the option of a 2.0-litre ‘Ingenium’ petrol in 247bhp and 296bhp outputs (P250 and P300), or a D180 diesel with 178bhp and 317lb ft of torque, and promising 57.6mpg. All are fitted with an automatic gearbox, while you get the option of rear-drive and AWD beneath. The P300 with AWD will go from 0-62mph in 5.7secs, if you're wondering which one's quickest.

Nothing’s been changed chassis-wise, so it’s the same aluminium-intensive architecture along with Dynamic and Comfort modes for the engine, gearbox and steering. Base spec cars start from £33,915.

As ever, pile in with your comments below. Reckon it's enough to lift sales?