Jaguar is racing to update and expand its line-up. The new F-Type shown here will soon be joined by a new compact luxury model.

After a long wait, Jaguar is finally getting ready to broaden its lineup with the addition of a new entry-level luxury vehicle it hopes will keep pace with competitors from Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, which have fashioned strategies for moving into the low-end segment while maintaining their image of prestige and luxury.

While Wayne Burgess, director of Jaguar’s production design studio, told TheDetroitBureau,com he wasn’t at liberty to discuss the direction of Jaguar’s future product plans, he and other company executives have repeatedly made it clear that an entry-level vehicle is critical to the British maker’s line-up.

A major problem for Jaguar is that since it abandoned the X-Type in 2009 it hasn’t had a low-end model to funnel first-time luxury buyers into the brand. That makes it harder, in the long-run, to maintain a steady clientele for other, higher-end products such as the Jaguar XF and XJ models.

But Jaguar is rapidly fleshing out its line-up, the recently introduced F-Type sports car just one of a number of new models in the works, Jaguar officials noted privately.  They stress that India’s Tata Motors, which owns both Jaguar and Land Rover, is committed to spending upwards of $1 billion annually on its luxury automotive business.

Meanwhile, The Financial Times reports Jaguar Land Rover is preparing to launch the new entry level compact sedan as soon as 2015. Significantly, the sedan’s underlying platform will also support a new crossover that will carry the Land Rover badge and very likely serve as the foundation of a new Jaguar wagon, as well.

The new, and as yet unconfirmed models will put Jaguar and Land Rover into the expanding compact luxury sedan and SUV segments, which have been the focus of some of the most intensive competition in the auto industry over the past half-decade.

Mercedes-Benz has already unveiled the new CLA, which is aimed at the heart of the market, while Audi is slated to unveil the new version of the popular Audi A3. The objective is to attract customers interested in moving out of mass market brands but who are reluctant to pay top dollar for a luxury vehicle.

Among the questions Jaguar officials won’t discuss is whether they will build their new sedan out of aluminum, in line with other recent model additions. The material reduces mass and improves both performance and fuel-economy, though it is also more expensive and a bit more challenging to produce.

The new compact Jaguar is expected to be assembled at Jaguar Land Rover’s plant in Solihull, in the British Midlands.

For the moment, Jaguar is focused on launching the new F-Type in the U.S. which is expected to account for about 23% of the sports car’s sales worldwide. Jaguar expects a full 50% of the F-Types will be the more expensive V-8 model, which sells for $92,000. The F-Type V8S produces 495 horsepower and launches from 0 to 60 in 4.2 seconds.

Billed as the long-awaited “spiritual successor” to the legendary Jaguar E-Type, the new F-Type has been in short supply since its spring introduction, potentially making it the strong success Jaguar and parent Tata have been hoping for to help fund a further expansion of the British brand’s slim product line.

Paul A. Eisenstein contributed to this report.