Jaguar XF 2010 News

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has issued its latest round of recalls, with models from Hyundai, Jaguar, Kia and Volvo impacted by the recent safety notices.

Though artfully camouflaged, the snaps from Carparazzi show the front and rear end of the forthcoming XFR will be, if not of the same design language, then at least on speaking terms with the new XJ. Indeed, the new headlights and front bumper look very similar to its big brother. LEDs should be in store for the tailights, and likely the now almost compulsory daytime running lights in front.The interior is camouflaged on these prototypes, so we can expect a significant change there also. Modest updates to the powertrains may also be in the works.

As the XF sport sedan racks up solid sales around the world, and the flagship XJ hits the road, Jaguar has shifted focus to creating a sports car with the same impact as the E-Type of the 1960s. It has no plans to go retro with a 21st century E-Type, and is not even planning to use the same name, but knows its new two-seater must be something special."Now the real work starts. It's an exciting time for us now," says Jaguar's design chief, Ian Callum. "I'm not trying to reference the E-Type, although there are things about the E-Type I like. You cannot do a car like that these days, with all the regulations and things. Above all, it's got to be a pretty car."Jaguar has yet to confirm a sports car program, only referring to the project officially as "our fourth car" - after the two-door XK, XF and XJ - but it is an open secret in talks during the XJ launch in Paris. "We are working on sports cars. It has to be something like that," Callum says.The man who heads the sports car project, Jaguar Land Rover's head of product development Phil Hodgkinson, says the car is vital. "We had to evolve the brand and make hay. We have to pitch the next one very carefully," he says. "The key word is confidence. When you are confident you can be a bit braver, a bit bolder. Our belief is probably higher than it's ever been."Jaguar sources confirmed the sports car will be built in aluminium, most likely with the engine in the front, and the powerplants are expected to be V6 and V8s running on petrol. Hodgkinson says Jaguar should double its sales this year from 52,000 in 2009 and promises the company will not repeat the mistake it made with the baby X-Type, which was just a re-bodied Ford Mondeo."There is a clear strategy. You should have no fears. We know what we're doing. In the past we've been schizophrenic. We've got to get rid of the old man's car image at Jaguar. We've got to get a car that a 25 year old, even if they cannot afford it, is a car that want to have. We want to develop and evolve sports cars and more sporty sedans, and driver's cars. We want a sports car." 

Sales of the British brand have jumped by eight per cent since the all- new, mid-sized XF arrived in 2008 and now it is going to get its own boost.The kick comes from the supercharged 5-litre V8 engine in the flagship XFR which was unveiled at the Detroit Motor Show ahead of local sales in the second half of the year.The XF is the latest Cat to get the R-car treatment and the pattern is predictable and positive: a major engine upgrade, body bits, bigger wheels and brakes, and some mild tweaking in the cabin.The R-car work has already done the job for Jaguar's XK sports cars and the flagship XJ and the company is expecting a solid response in Australia."One of the problems we've had in the past is under-calling the demand for the R models. With the XK, around 65 to 70 per cent of demand is for the R," says David Blackall, the managing director of Jaguar Land Rover Australia."So the R cars have done well in Australia. People tend to gravitate to the best, particularly when they are paying for a Jaguar."The starting price for an XF in Australia is now $108,350 with a V6 engine, but jumping all the way to the XFR is going to mean close to double the price. And that is likely to keep the car exclusive."The car is probably going to be around $200,00 and we reckon if we can do 25 it will be a good result," says Blackall."In Normal times I would like to sell 50, so with the market the way it is hope to do 25 to the end of the year. In any case, we want to keep it as exclusive as we can."Blackall is also concerned to keep demand for the XF SV8, which comes with a 4.2-litre V8 at $173,170, moving along until the R-car hits."A lot of this is going to depend on how quickly we can get the XFR.We've still got some SV8s, although not too many now."We are targeting around the middle of the year for the R."The XFR was shown in Detroit with trendy white bodywork, which does not look nearly as tough as the jet-black colour normally used for Jaguar's hero cars.But there was a matt-black XFR on the back of the stand which had just returned from a record run on the Bonneville salt-flats in the USA, where it was clocked at 363km/h to become the fastest car in the company's history. Of course, it had some tweaking . . .The production XFR has 375 kiloWatts from its supercharged and direct- injection V8, as well as 624 Newton-metres of torque. If the numbers sound a little familiar, they match the output of the V10-powered BMW M5.Power is fed to the rear end through a six-speed automatic gearbox with a new active differential, with the car's electronic controls including a 'drift' setting for a little rear-end slide.Body changes run from the predictable front air dam and rear spoiler to the R cars' signature chrome mesh grille, with extra bonnet vents to cool the engine.The XFR has been dropped 27 millimetres lower than the SV8 with Bilstein suspension, upgraded brakes and four exhaust tips under the tail.Inside, the seats have more side support, there is upgraded trim and some R-car logos, as well as the acoustic laminated windscreen and upgraded satnav common to the latest XF range.The bottom line on the go-faster XF is a car that has 23 per cent more power and 12 per cent more torque than its 4.2-litre V8 predecessor.That means it jumps to 100km/h in just 4.7 seconds and has to be held back to a top speed of 250km/h.But Jaguar's good news for '09 does not end with the XFR because the company is also into the countdown for its all-new luxury XJ model.It is expected to be previewed at the Frankfurt Motor Show in October with deliveries in Australia from early in 2010.But Blackall is not giving anything away."The car is on track. There will be northern hemisphere announcements at the right time," he says."Given the state of the world, the quicker we can get it into showrooms the better for Jaguar." 

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. 

The hi-tech 5.0-litre V8 will be introduced in 2010 - a year that is shaping as a boomer for Ford Australia with the first facelift of the Orion Falcon, the switch to V6 engines in Ford's family fighter, and the likely introduction of the next-generation Territory.There is a good chance 2010 will also bring the first diesel engine to the Falcon and Territory, a 2.7-litre powerplant already in use in Europe. The good news on the V8 front comes as Ford Australia confirms plans to axe its existing 5.4-litre V8, which was standard in the G8, Fairlane and LTD and optional in a range of other Fords, including the Falcon ute.The Jaguar V8 is a new all-alloy design that was developed for the upcoming XF hero car, which is a make-or-break model for the legendary British luxury brand.The new Jaguar V8 will be available both in naturally-aspirated form and with a supercharger and the basic bottom line is 375kW. It will be the hero engine for the XR8 Falcon and will also be used in the fliers from Ford Performance Vehicles.The move to the Jaguar V8 is part of a shift prompted by the end of production of the existing 5.4-litre engine.Ford Australia imports the engine from the Essex plant in Ontario, Canada, which has been steadily phasing out the engine.Locally, the engine was known as the Barra 220 or Barra 230, depending on the application, with the number reflecting its kilowatt output.Still, Ford will continue with the part-locally assembled, four-valve twin-overhead camshaft version of the same engine in its Falcon XR8 and FPV models. The three-valve V8 was optional on the base-model BA Falcon from 2002, replacing the ancient 5.0-litre Windsor pushrod V8.But Ford's Broadmeadows factory has had little use for the engine, according to Ford Australia's president Tom Gorman.“Quite honestly, we were down to about 10a month and it's not a major impact on our business,” Gorman says.“They've actually ceased production in the US and, as you know, we're ceasing production on our long-wheelbase cars.”Gorman says Ford has enough remainingV8s stockpiled to meet demand in the long-wheelbase cars until production of the Fairlane family in a few months.