Jaguar XF 2013 News

Czech brand Skoda and British carmaker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) have revealed which models will be recalled as part of the wide-spread mandatory Takata airbag call back.

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.

Jaguar Land Rover Australia has recalled 642 examples of its XF luxury sedan, while Renault Australia has called back 1472 light-commercial Trafic vans.

It's the XFR-S tweak of the Sportsbrake and it promises the best performance of any Jaguar wagon. It gets the 405 kiloWatt supercharged V8 already in the XFR-S sedan, as well as a bunch of body, brake and suspension upgrades to match the power boost.

... rival the prices on the BMW options' list for things like salad and spuds.So it's no surprise that the top end of town calls the shots at the Palexpo alongside Geneva Airport as Europe's carmakers go head-to-head for the first time in 2012. Ferrari and Lamborghini battle for go-faster bragging rights as Rolls-Royce and Bentley get serious about family motoring for the ultra-rich, while Infiniti pitches an new exotic coupe and even Ssangyong of Korea goes upmarket with a new concept. There are also dozens of one-off dream machines and hotrod tuner cars in Geneva, a show that is traditionally dominated by European design stars including Pininfarina and Giugiaro. But there is plenty, too, for ordinary car buyers as the Fiesta ST brakes cover, Hyundai updates the i20 and teases with the Veloster Turbo, Jaguar confirms an XF station wagon, Audi and Mercedes-Benz previews their A3 and A-Class, and Ford even updates its box-boring Transit workhorse. Picking the best of the best is tough with so much gorgeous stuff on the stands, but Alfa Romeo is the winner for 2012 and edges out the Infiniti Emerge-E with its Disco Volante.The pretty little red coupe is dreamy without being stupid and is already confirmed for production, although the slightly-retro body will be draped over Alfa's existing 8C Competizione chassis - 4.7-litre V8, 335kW, 0-100km/h in 4.2 seconds - which means it's no chance for Australia with only left-hand drive.The Ferrari F12 is exactly what you expect from the fastest car to wear the badge - 340km/h and 0-100km/h in 3.1 seconds - including a swoopy body that taps the past as well as the influences that created the California convertible, but Lamborghini goes even better with an Aventador J preview car that is snapped up for a rumoured $2.8 million ahead of genuine production of an open-topped Aventador supercar.Rolls-Royce updates the Phantom with a new nose that still demands respect, as well as tweaking its colour choices with a two-tone approach that triggers memories of cheap seventies vinyl roofs, and Jaguar gets serious for families with an XF Sportbrake that will still struggle in a world of SUVs.Further down the food chain, the Audi A3 looks good but not as edgy as an A-Class that must break away from the bus pass generation into something closer to the Y-Gen futurists, and Volkswagen previews a more car-like Tiguan crossover with its Cross Coupe.Hyundai has a preview of a new flagship coupe called the i-oniq - did it mean ironic? - Kia shows a Track'ster that will become the new Soul, Honda shows the CR-V design that's coming to Australia, and the pocket rocket Ford Fiesta ST breaks cover with a confirmation for Australia.The action and excitement at Geneva goes on and on, and that is - really - the best thing about the show. Detroit in January hinted that the word's carmakers are finally emerging from the austerity and fear of the global financial crisis and the big-spending effort in Geneva confirms it, with good news for almost everyone from Euro billionaires to ordinary Aussie families.PG PICKS:1. Bentley EXP 9 F.Only one word fits - Ugly. With a big capital U. The hulking British bulldog might tick the boxes for cashed-up families, but this SUV makes a LandCruiser look elegant, and subtle.2. Giugiaro Brivido.Exactly what you expect to see in Geneva, as designers go all-out to impress the crowds - and each other. Not for production but a great looker with huge gullwing doors.3. Range Rover Evoque Convertible. A certainty for production as Land Rover milks its most successful design - ever. This one will never go bush but is being fast tracked for Double Bay and Toorak.4. Ssangyong XIV-2. Who knew the South Koreans could trump the Euros with a design that combines SUV practicality with a coupe-convertible body? A big surprise.5. Toyota FT-Bh: Just when you thought the uglies were done, Toyota lobbed with this. If it's the future for hybrid cars then sales will be slow. Very slow.

China is clearly on top of the car world in 2011.

Some car companies are thriving, some are struggling. Jaguar, of late, has struggled.For a company which has been on life support more than once through its 85-year existence, Jaguar will not give in.It is hanging on grimly amid on-again, off-again suggestions its parent company, Ford, like it did earlier this year with Aston Martin, wants to sell.As a brand it still has an enormous amount of cache.Through all the turmoil Jaguar has been a survivor.There is no question many mistakes were made, none more obvious than its failure to depart from retro styling and its indecision over future product.Many suggest it should have by now cashed in on the SUV phenomenon. It can leverage much engineering and purchasing might from its gifted offroad stablemate Land Rover. There still is a chance Jaguar, in the long term, will bite the bullet and emerge with a quality SUV.Jaguar also seriously considered coming out with a budget roadster to fight with Mazda's evergreen MX-5 but the F-Type concept was still-born when it appeared about seven years ago.Even so the F-Type and the similar XK180 concept showcased the gorgeous design skills still prevalent among Jaguar's team.In the short-term Jaguar will replace its retro S-Type saloon with the XF, which has clear contemporary and future design elements, bringing it into line with its luxury rivals.The XF, which will be shown in production-ready form at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September and released in Australia later next year, uses interior cues similar to the brilliant XK coupe and convertible.It will be on a longer wheelbase and have wider front and rear tracks so it will be roomier inside.Jaguar may have slipped up in bringing out the budget $50,000-plus X-Type small sedan to try to muscle in on BMW 3-series territory.It didn't spark the sales volume — although it has improved — that it pinned so many hopes on and in some respects the car which was built off Ford's Mondeo platform didn't do the leaper badge's image many favours.In Australia, Jaguar has mirrored the rough ride it has experienced internationally with sales coughing and spluttering along.In 2006 Jaguar sold 1011 vehicles in Australia with the X-Type accounting for 676 compared with 975 (630 X-Types) the previous year.Business at Jaguar has been marking time for the past few years but in year-to-date figures the company is falling behind last year's mark of 367 to the tune of 35 cars.But funnily enough, volume is not the ultimate figure for Jaguar Australia general manager Dorian Lapthorne who says the company wants to model itself on Porsche.That is a big tick for Porsche's business operations which have won universal praise for being the only automotive company in the world that increased profit every year from 1995-2005.“Around the world Porsche has the highest profitability per unit of any manufacturer,” Lapthorne says.“They look to us like a good model for success.”Lapthorne qualifies the goal by saying Jaguar is not about to come out and corner the two-seater sports car market.“I'm saying as a business model, as a dealer network model, as an approach to the market that's got to be something that's a way of going forward.”Jaguar wants to shift cars but the balance sheet is reliant not so much on the number of vehicles sold but in lifting the average retail price.“Yes, year-to-date we're a little off the pace and we're completely comfortable with that,” Lapthorne said.“It's sometimes a difficult thing for people to understand because it says more equals more generally.“I think we're down about 10 per cent and that's completely in line with our plans.“In fact I think we're about five per cent ahead of our forecast.”You might be scratching you're head thinking that being off the pace is in line with plans but the method to the madness is in a greater spend by the customer.“It doesn't sound like a sensible thing to be doing until I tell you that our average retail price has gone from about $85,000 last year to about $100,000 this year.“I'm not going to go into the profit behind that, obviously, but that actually tells quite a good story for ourselves and dealers in terms of profit.”The focus for Jaguar has clearly shifted to the top end with its XK and XKR models rather than the “humble” X-Type.The X-Type path has proved to be a dead-end in terms of Jaguar growing its business on a mainstream scale as the Germans have done.“If you go back to 2001 when we were introducing the X-Type, we were then on what we thought was a growth path.“We thought we were a brand that was going to replicate what BMW, Mercedes and Audi was doing and extend down from our traditional premium end of the market.“For a number of reasons that didn't work.”There remains a degree of exclusivity and individuality about Jaguar buyers.They don't want to be seen as people who are driving cars built for the masses.“The Jaguar brand is very much seen as a brand for individuals,” Lapthorne said.“And that, when we do our brand tracking and brand research, is the one characteristic Jaguar owns across all luxury car lines compared to BMW and Audi and Lexus and VW and Peugeot.“I think that is one of the reasons which inherently prevented us from reaching the growth path we wanted.“The X-Type, a fusion of an XJ nose and an S-Type rear, was seen to be too conservative and was dressed to appeal to the Jaguar faithful thus hosing down the chance of catching fire with the broader audience.“It (X-Type) really hooked into those who already loved Jaguar and didn't extend outside that little footprint.”So what does the future hold?“As an example we like to look at Porsche which has a very focused product line-up, a very hyped dealer network and they don't sell huge amounts of cars,” Lapthorne said.“So we look at that and think that's a pretty good model for success.“If we got Jaguar into that sort of space — highly focused, premium, niche then I would think we've done a good job.”