Jaguar XF 2008 News

The 59-year-old, one of the last senior executives from the tumultuous Jacques Nasser era, started as Ford's vice president of design in 1997 after working with BMW, Audi and Volkswagen.

It would have been so easy for the Blue Oval team to drop the bundle as they worked towards producing a new car for a segment that was shrinking daily before their eyes.

It's time to reveal the second half of the carsguide Car of the Year field - and this time it's all closer to home.The second group of five finalists includes a pair of Aussie icons and three of the perennial favourites out of Japan.These COTY contenders have been through the same gruelling three-day test program as the opening five contenders - the Audi A4, BMW 135i Sport, Fiat 500, Jaguar XF diesel and VW Tiguan.With the full final field of 10 revealed, the votes are in and a winner will be announced next Friday.For the stories, video and photos visit Carsguide Car of the Year 2009. 

You will still be smiling at the end of the journey.

First it was 600 new staff. Now it's a new vision for the future.Things are changing, and changing fast, for Jaguar Land Rover under its new ownership by Tata of India.It is recruiting 600 engineering specialists across the two brands and has opened a Virtual Reality Centre in Britain to help design the cars of the future.Such a huge financial commitment points to a solid future, perhaps even including the go-ahead for a born-again E-Type Jaguar to sell alongside the forthcoming baby Land Rover LRX city car.JLR is now divorced from Ford, which sold it to Tata when the late Geoff Polites was running the operation and leading it back into significant profit for the first time in 10 years.“There is a fair bit of liberation there. Our senior people are walking around with their chests thrust out,” says the head of JLR Australia, David Blackall, who has just returned from head office in Britain.“It's a big recruitment drive. Most of the emphasis is on new technology and sustainable energy. We've basically been given the brief that . . . we're trying to build for the future. It's about as upbeat and positive as I've seen it for a long time.“It's all about sustainable technologies. When you make fairly large, off-road-capable vehicles, you need a way forward in a reduced-carbon world.”Blackall reports strong sales in Australia since the arrival of the latest Jaguar XF, the make-or-break model for the brand.“XF on the Jaguar side has begun brilliantly. We sold our program in June for the best month for Jaguar in about four years,” he says.“We have a little more supply and will sell 400 to 450 Jaguars to the end of the year.”In Britain, the Virtual Reality Centre is the key to the cars, which will follow the XF, the forthcoming XJ flagship and the LRX.The centre cost more than $5 million and is intended to cut new-model development times. JLR claims it is the most advanced of its type in the world and allows designers and engineers to interact with life-size, three-dimensional models.The system reduces the need for physical prototypes, saving time and money. It uses eight Sony high-resolution projectors to produce 3D images for staff, who wear special glasses that give them a picture four times as clear as a high-definition television. 

After talking with leading British executives of the car company, it's still a 50-50 proposition.It is confirmed that Jaguar design chief Ian Callum has produced a highly secret design for a small Jag.However, Jaguar director of programs Mick Mohan believes there is no room in Jaguar for another model.“Jaguar is a three-model brand; that's about all it can stand,” he said.With the launch of the XF, Jaguar now has four models but Mohan believes the X-Type will be phased out about 2010. “There will be no small car. It's a very competitive segment,” he said.“We can't compete in every part of the luxury sector. We need to pick our spots of where we are to compete.”However, that is not necessarily the opinion of Jaguar chief financial officer David Smith, who flew into Melbourne this week for the funeral of UK Jaguar Land Rover chief Geoff Polites.He believes the sale of Jaguar Land Rover to Indian company Tata could open a lot of options and believes a BMW 1 Series-sized Jag has some merit.“The Jaguar design team has a lot of ideas,” he said. “I think that is one of a number of interesting options.”He also thinks there is room for an F-Type — a modern interpretation of the iconic E Type sports car.“But no decision has been made yet,” he said.Here there is some agreement with Mohan declaring that Jaguar needs to “get some sporty character back into our products."He suggested Jaguar could go the way of outgoing owner Ford by moving into smaller capacity turbo engines.“We will work very closely still with Ford, so we will keep a close eye on what they will do.”However, don't bet on the X-Type being phased out, either.Smith says there has been no decision made yet. 

The $2.5 billion sale of the two British icons to the Indian manufacturer was to be finalised at the start of the new financial year, but Jaguar Land Rover Australia managing director David Blackhall said it would now be June 1.“I was in the UK two weeks ago and everything is on track for the sale,” he said this week at the Melbourne launch of the new XF Jaguar.Blackhall said Tata would set broad parameters for business performance.He pointed out that although Jaguar sales in Australia last year dropped 18.9 per cent from 1011 in 2006 to 820, profit was up 15 per cent. Land Rover increased 9.3 per cent from 3392 to 3708.“I'd be bitterly disappointed if we worked our way to the top of (Tata's) 'to do' list. We have been going pretty well. We don't see the change of ownership as a big immediate issue for us,” Blackhall said.“Tata has a reputation for being non-interventionist.”His comments were backed by Jaguar Land Rover UK chief financial officer David Smith; who was in Melbourne for the funeral of Australian Geoff Polites, the company's British chief executive.“Tata has been quite explicit that they want us to run the business,” he said.However, he did not rule out some Indian ingredients in future Jaguars or Land Rovers.“One-fifth of our parts are made in other countries and we have sourced from India before and have had components from Tata."“We have agreements for components for the next three years.”He said customers were unlikely to be affected.“I don't think they are as concerned who owns the company as about the product itself.”Jaguar and Land Rover are part of the Premier Auto Group (PAG) in Sydney with Volvo, which remains owned by Ford.Could the new ownership effect Jaguars' status? 

Ian Callum, Jaguar's design director and creator of the XF saloon, feels Ford has abandoned the prestigious British car maker in its time of need.Together with Land Rover, Jaguar is poised to move out from beneath Ford's umbrella to become a division of the Indian conglomerate Tata.“I am very sad that we're leaving Ford,” Callum said at the international Jaguar XF launch in Monaco.“It's taken us a while to realise Ford no longer wants us. But I suppose we have to move forward. It's hard to work out why Ford is selling Jaguar and Land Rover when — with Land Rover especially — there are clear profits being made.”Callum believes that once the two British vehicle makers are sold, Ford will become a very different company.“They will have to rely on mainstream models in highly competitive segments,” he says. “It's a bigger challenge than making niche segment vehicles like Jaguar and Land Rover.”But despite being pensive about the move from Ford, Callum sees opportunities for an untethered Jaguar.“We will have a better, a clearer understanding of what we are doing,” he says. “The XF sedan is the move to the next level, following on from the XK coupe. From here we go to the new XJ saloon (estimated for release in 2011).” 

At least three new Jaguars are on the drawing board, in addition to the replacement for the XJ saloon.An edgy new coupe based on the coming XF sedan is an open secret. So is an XF station wagon.And British sources point to a four-door version of the current XK coupe to go up against the Mercedes CLS and the coming BMW CS and Porsche Panamera. As well, a smaller F-Type sports car would rival the Porsche Boxster and BMW's Z4.News of the coming Jaguars surfaced in the Financial Times. It says executives have produced plans for investment approval after the company is sold by Ford.David Blackhall, who heads Jaguar Australia, has hinted in the past that the crucial XF — which will be on sale here midyear — could be developed with extra body styles.Jaguar design boss Ian Callum says Tata has responded well to the company's design direction.“We have shown Tata our new model lines and the planned product cycle,” Callum says. “Tata is very respectful about what we are doing.”Callum also suggests the relationship with Ford has often been subject to tensions over design, revealing that the compact X-Type model based on the Ford Mondeo was actually designed in Detroit.It was forced on the team at Jaguar's design centre at Whitley, in Britain's industrial heartland.But he says Jaguar deserves some blame because it had not kept pace with its rivals.Models of the XF coupe are rumoured to have already been built at Whitley and are understood to share the bulk of their design with the XF sedan, though the coupe has a lower roofline.Ford chief executive Alan Mullaly told carsguide at the Detroit Motor Show last month that Tata is the final bidder for Jaguar and Land Rover. The deal is expected to be finalised next month, for an expected $2.5 billion. 

A recent report in London’s Financial Times said that Jaguar senior executives had already shown Tata at least three new model projects for investment consideration.They are believed to be a coupe version of the XF sedan, a four-door version of the XK coupe, and a two-seater sports car based on the F-Type concept, that would aim to challenge the Porsche Boxster and BMW Z4.Jaguar head of design, Ian Callum, is quoted in the Financial Times article as saying that Tata had responded well to the British house’s design direction.“We have shown Tata our new model lines and the planned product cycle,” Callum says. “The two national cultures appear to fit together very well and Tata is being very respectful about what we are doing.”He also suggests that the relationship with current owners Ford had often been subject to tensions over design, revealing that the X-Type was designed in Detroit and then forced on the team at Jaguar’s Whitley design centre new Coventry.However some of the blame could be attributed to Jaguar, which had failed to move on and keep pace with rivals, the article quotes Callum as saying.Models of the XF coupe are rumoured to have already been built at Whitley, and are understood to share the bulk of their design with the XF sedan, but have the lower roofline seen in the C-XF concept.Jaguar Australia managing director David Blackhall has previously hinted that the XF – which is seen as being crucial to the carmaker’s future — could be developed into several variants as variations on the themeThe Financial Times article did not explicitly confirm that Tata had signed off on acquiring Jaguar and Land Rover, but the purchase is expected to be formally announced by late this month, with the price estimated to be US$2 billion.However, the sale has been largely accepted as being a done deal for at least two months.