Jaguar XF lowers price with power

A new, lower power version of the Jaguar XF 2.2 turbodiesel four-cylinder has just started rolling out the factory door in the UK.

Rated at 120kW, 20kW lower than the existing 140kW 2.2-litre, the newcomer will target Brit budget-minded buyers with a price about equivalent to $44,000. But while Jaguar UK says it loses little in fit-out, it gains nothing at the pump. The 120kW version uses the same 5.4-litres/100km as the 140kW one -- and emits an identical 149g/km of CO2.

That's unlikely to matter to bargain hunters, who it is targeting in a bid to lift the vehicle rego numbers in the UK's first quarter. But don't get too excited about slipping down to the local showroom to welcome it into the bargain basement. For a start, taxes and import duties would lift the Australian price here, but Jaguar Australia says it's not on the plan for the local line-up.

"That's a purely a UK market and we won't be taking it," Jaguar general manager Kevin Goult says. "Getting the car to Australia would mean it would cost more than it does in the UK. And it has lower performance, but consumption and CO2 are exactly the same. Britain has a big registration month in March so this is to assist them (with sales figures) in the first quarter of the year."

Goult says Jaguar Australia is happy with where their current XF 2.2 is sitting in the price bracket -- and with its sales performance. "Our price point of $78,900 (for the 140kW XF 2.2) is pretty aggressive and with great spec it is doing exactly what we want it to among the competition," he says. "There was about 27 per cent of that segment we knew we weren't able to reach, and the 2.2 has given us access to them.

"The segment has picked up for XF and some of that on the 2.2m and we think we'll see more growth this year. We're very happy with our product line-up."