Jaguar’s second SUV, the E-Pace, will be here at the end of the first quarter of 2018.

THE second sports utility out of Jaguar will be with us in April, the brand’s local distributor has confirmed.

However, arrival date aside, Jaguar New Zealand has nothing to offer yet in respect to the new E-Pace, a smaller alternate to the F-Pace and a competitor for the BMW X1, Audi Q3 and Lexus NX.

Commenting via its media communicator, Impact PR, it says price has yet to be set. The local range has also to be decided.

Making its world debut at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show that opens on February 14, the model clearly draws on the F-Pace as a styling influence, though there's no disguising the more compact proportions.

At 4395mm long, the E-Pace is some 360mm shorter than its big brother, though the wheelbase is only about 200mm shorter, so there’s hope this will translate to reasonable rear seat space.

In terms of practicality, the E-Pace seats five and the cabin appears to feature several large and versatile storage areas. There can be up to five USB and four 12-volt power sockets. The boot holds 577 litres or 1234 litres with the 60:40 split folding rear seats stowed away.

There are two distinct exterior styles to choose from, the standard E-Pace and the sportier looking R-Dynamic models. As is typical of JLR product, buyers can specify alloy wheel sizes measuring up to 21 inches in diameter. Further customisation comes in terms of a body-coloured, all-black or panoramic glass roof, while there are 11 exterior colours, including Caldera Red, which is reserved for the obligatory E-Pace First Edition.

The wraparound style of the driver's area is akin to that seen in F-Pace, but the E-Pace comes with the latest infotainment and connectivity technology. As standard is a 10-inch Touch Pro touchscreen system but there’s allowance to switch out the orthodox main instrument panel with a seriously impressive 12.3-inch TFT display that's customisable. A large head-up display is also available, while up to eight devices can connect to the E-Pace's 4G Wi-Fi hotspot.

Five Ingenium engines are offered from launch, all turbocharged 2.0-litre units. The P250 and P300 offer 185kW and 223kW respectively and are all-wheel drive and automatic only. Diesel options are 11kW, 134kW or 178kW, the latter with 500Nm of torque. Only the first two are available with a six-speed manual gearbox (all the others come with a nine-speed automatic), while only the D150 comes with front-wheel drive. The fastest E-Pace is the P300, hitting 100kmh from rest in 6.4 seconds.

Whether a buyer chooses the E-Pace or the E-Pace Dynamic, there are then S, SE and HSE specification packs.

Standard equipment should include that 10-inch touchscreen, LED headlights, a rear view camera and an extensive suite of active safety systems.

Jaguar decided to cause a stir with the car’s first global appearance debut, in London last week, by using it to set an official Guinness World Record title during that premiere.

The compact performance SUV leapt into the record books with a 15.3 metre-long jump complete with a 270-degree corkscrew-like ‘barrel roll’. The leap required a 160m runup and the talent of a renowned British test driver and multiple Guinness record holder, Terry Grant.