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Jaguar, Ford's British luxury car division, is limping. The British are known for their defiant oratory under fire, and Ian Callum, Jaguar's design chief, showed a study for the next XK sports coupe under the low-key name of Advanced Lightweight Coupe.

"We had to do it," Mr. Callum said of the decision to unveil the car here, acknowledging the criticism the company has taken, especially in Britain, for its failure to build a smaller F-Type concept shown in 2000. A production-ready version of the Advanced Lightweight Coupe will be revealed at the Frankfurt auto show this fall and will go on sale next year.

But for some Jag watchers, the concept coupe lacked the powerful stance of earlier Jaguars. It seems to have sprouted parts from vehicles like the Ford Taurus, Chevrolet Cobalt and the Range Rover. Stripped of the concept-car decorations and refined in detail, it may yet prove to be an apt successor to the current XK, but it is not the more accessible, higher-volume car the company needs to become profitable again.