Jaguar's all-new four-cylinder engine range will begin trials in 2014, according to the firm's engineering boss.

Engineering director Wolfgang Ziebart has confirmed the first pre-production models using the all-new engine range will come down the production line at the new i54 Midlands factory next spring.

Speaking to industry paper Automotive News Europe, Ziebart said the first production engine will be a four-cylinder diesel unit and is scheduled to be manufactured at the end of next year.

It's expected that diesel engines are destined for the first production versions of the baby Jaguar saloon, which is expected to arrive in showrooms in late spring 2015. The first petrol-powered version of the new engine is expected to arrive later in 2015.

Ziebart said the engines should set new benchmarks in terms of "efficiency, weight and power per litre".

The new four-cylinder engine family uses as many common components and construction techniques as possible and will eventually find its way into nearly all JLR models, but not the flagship Range Rover. It's thought that a high-power diesel version will eventually be fitted to the Range Rover Sport.