Base models rarely get their due in the press. Big-engine, high-horsepower variants get all the headlines, but the junior version is what sells in volume. We’re just as guilty here at Autoblog, with both a first and second drive of the Jaguar XE in supercharged V6 guise, and barely a mention of the entry-level, 2.0-liter diesel. So, in Perd Hapley style, the Jaguar XE diesel is the model of the Jaguar XE we’re going to discuss.

Yes, the volume model of the Jaguar XE is a diesel, at least for now. A turbocharged 2.0-liter gas engine, wearing the 25t badge, will arrive after the XE’s early 2016 on-sale date. Oil-burners and volume are not a thing in the United States, except for heavy-duty pickup trucks. Despite that apparent contradiction, the XE 20d could find some converts.