THIS rather funky picture is a little teaser from Jaguar showing its new E-Pace compact SUV.  

Fans of the stylish British brand will raise an eyebrow at an indicative Australian price from under $50,000 before on-road costs. That will make the Jaguar brand more accessible to car shoppers than ever before.

Such a price would make it cheaper than its sister offering, the Range Rover Evoque, and throws another challenger in the direction of the long-established BMW X1 and Audi Q3 offerings.  

Jaguar's larger F-Pace SUV, introduced last year, is by far the brand's biggest selling model in Australia.  

Now that Jag has entered the SUV sphere, it's little wonder it's keen to capitalise on this buoyant prestige segment, and a compact SUV is the obvious next step.  

Minimal information has been released as yet, but the picture shows the E-Pace is basically a scaled-down version of the attractive F-Pace, while we're promised all-wheel-drive and a range of petrol and diesel engines.  

The Jaguar E-Pace will be officially revealed on July 13, and we can expect them in Australian showrooms by early 2018 ready for an eager buying market.