The original Jaguar XF four door executive sports saloons have been with us for eight years and it has been the brand’s global breadwinner in terms of sales with 280,000 built to date.
It competes against the premium German brand models such as the Audi A6, BMW 5 Series and the Mercedes E-Class. The ‘aluminium-intensive’ XF saloon comes hot on the heals after Jaguar’s all-new XE four door compact saloon, the revised XJ limousine saloons and the extended F-Type hard-core two seater Coupe and Roadster models.
A Jaguar F-Pace SUV will join the range in 2016. Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has also just announced their intention to open a production facility in Slovakia which could produce up to 300,000 Jaguar, Land Rover and Range Rover vehicles annually for their global markets. Last year JLR sold 462,678 vehicles worldwide – a 9% increase over 2013.
Of that total 81,570 were Jaguars of which 18,401 were UK sales – a 13.5% increase over the previous year.
In the competitive automotive world time doesn’t stand still and an all-new Jaguar XF saloon 14 model range is with us with prices ranging from £32,300 to £49,945. Jaguar claims the new XF’s running costs are lower, residual values higher and insurance costs also lower than the saloon versions it replaces and its major German premium brand competitor models.
When it comes to a replacement for the outgoing XF Sportbrake estate, Ian Callum, director of design for Jaguar said at the global media launch in Spain last week for the XF saloon, “The business case for a new Sportbrake is difficult, it really only appeals in the UK market, it doesn’t have global appeal. In terms of other versions and powertrains nothing is off the agenda, everything is possible because it is a global product and it has to meet global market requirements.”
The all-new Jaguar XF saloon with new or revised EU6 engines and aluminium bodyshell – there is a weight-saving over the previous XF saloon version of up to 190kg, which Jaguar says is some 80kg lighter than the competition.
The starter model in the range is the 2.0-litre 163hp new Jaguar Land Rover four cylinder Ingenium turbodiesel and officially this will return 70.6mpg in the Combined Cycle with CO2 emissions of just 104g/km. This is the lowest CO2 emissions of any non-hybrid model in the segment and a 19% improvement in fuel economy and CO2 emissions over the previous Ford based 2.2-litre turbodiesel engine.
This means the manual gearbox version slips down to the 18% company car tax bracket whilst the comparable Audi/BMW models are in the 20% band and the Mercedes in the 22% band.
The engine line-up is 2.0-litre four cylinder Ingenium turbodiesels with 163 and 180hp power outputs both with manual and automatic transmissions, an automatic 3.0-litre, 300hp V6 turbodiesel and a 3.0-litre, 380hp V6 supercharged petrol – again with an eight-speed automatic gearbox.
Not available for the UK but in the line-up for other global markets is a 2.0-litre turbocharged 240hp petrol engine and there is an AWD option for the 3.0-litre, V6 supercharged petrol engine models but not the UK.
For the UK market the 2.0-litre diesel models are available with Prestige, R-Sport and Portfolio specification choices whilst the 3.0-litre diesel and petrol versions are S specification.
The coupe style side profile for the four door body of the new XF is described by Jaguar as ‘aluminium intensive’; around 75% of it uses aluminium.
Although the overall length of the latest XF is 7mm shorter at 4,954mm due to the reduced front overhang, the wheelbase is 51mm longer at 2,960mm addressing one of the issues of the original XF – the lack of legroom for rear seat passengers.
Jaguar claims a class-leading 15mm more rear legroom, 24mm more kneeroom, up to 27mm more headroom than before.
The XF’s body has improved aerodynamics with a drag coefficient dropping from 0.29 to 0.26.
In reality the XF is a scaled-up version of the new compact XE saloon with its aluminium platform and double-wishbone and integral link suspension system with underbody shields to speed up airflow and reduce drag. Electric Power Assisted Steering (EPAS) reduces fuel consumption by up to 2% for diesel models and 3% for petrol versions. EPAS also enables functions such as camber compensation and advanced driver assistance systems including lane-keep assist, driver condition monitoring with bay- and parallel parking assist. For automatic transmission models All-Surface Progress Control, developed for low-speed driving in adverse conditions, automatically manages the brakes and the throttle to deliver optimum traction enabling the car to pull away smoothly and the driver only has to operate the steering.
Stereo camera technology enables autonomous emergency braking, lane departure warning and lane keep assist are standard features and there are also extra features such as low speed tracking of a car in front such as use in slow speed traffic jams and an intelligent speed limiter which can restrict the car’s speed after automatically reading roadside speed limit signs.
The all-new XF is also the first Jaguar model to offer adaptive full LED headlights which give a colour temperature closer to that of daylight than that provided with Xenon lights. A high beam assist function option is available where the stereo camera will detect other vehicles and will dip the headlights automatically.
The interior of the new XF remains luxurious but it is simplified and less cluttered, perhaps less classic Jaguar than before. There is a wide dashboard with what Jaguar calls their Riva Hook, a prominent design line that sweeps across the dashboard and into the boors. There is a wide flat centre console which houses the pop-up controller for the automatic transmission versions. There are more sculptured leather upholstered seats with improved support. The rear seats are divided 40/20/40 with the centre seat able to be folded to provide a load-through function from the 540-litre boot. The boot also has a wider exterior opening to improve loading.
Lower end models have an 8.0-inch touchscreen whilst higher grade versions have a 10.2-inch touchscreen infotainment system including InControl Touch Pro navigation. Right in front of the driver is a 12.3-inch instrument cluster which features four visual themes for personalisation.
Whilst the new Jaguar XF has now caught up with the competition, it could be realistically claimed that it has in some areas surpassed competitors in its sector.
Laura Schwab, marketing director for Jaguar Land Rover UK, said at the media launch she expects UK sales of the new XF to be split 50/50 between private and fleet customers with the diesel engines taking the vast majority of sales, especially the 2.0-litre 180hp unit and the R-Sport level of specification should be the most popular. When it came to forecasting actual UK sales numbers for the XF, it was a firm ‘no comment’ but it is expected that the XF and the XE between them will double Jaguar’s UK 18,401 sales achieved last year with the smaller XE saloon range marginally outselling the new XF.
