Million-dollar halo car would not be possible without Tata's investment

At a press conference this morning in London, England, Jaguar made the surprise announcement that it will build the C-X75 range-extended hybrid supercar.

The British luxury automaker said the production car will stay true to the concept car that made its debut at the 2010 Paris motor show to celebrate Jaguar's 75th anniversary.

Exact details on the future Jag's powertrains were not released, but it will combine a "small-capacity, highly-boosted (read turbocharged) internal combustion engine with one powerful electric motor at each axle."

Jaguar is predicting performance on a par with the fastest production cars on the plant: zero-to-96 km/h in three seconds, 0-160 in six seconds, a top speed of 320 km/h - and here's that green part: a 50 km all-electric range.  

Only 250 examples will be built, each costing as much as $1.4 million.

The C-X75 will be developed and built alongside Britain's own Williams F1, the company famed for its top-level race engineering prowess. This marks the first time the two UK companies have collaborated. Jaguar says its new super car will benefit from "direct technology transfer from top-level motorsport." The supercar's chassis will be made of carbon-fibre for weight savings and strength and we expect the regenerative KERS braking system from current F1 cars to also appear on the C-X75.

Read between the lines and it is evident that this project would not have been possible for Jaguar without the faith and funds of its still-new Indian parent company, Tata Motors.

"This is the Jaguar of the future," said Tata CEO, Carl-Peter Forster. "Never before has the company launched such an ambitious, world-beating vehicle programme."

Adrian Hallmark, Jaguar Brand Director said, "No other vehicle will better signify Jaguar's renewed confidence and excellence in technological innovation than this."

No arrival date has been given for the C-X75, except that it will come, "within the timescales of a conventional model programme." Suddenly we can't wait for 2013…