Jaguar XJ 2012 News

The gimbal-like qualities of chooks' bodies and heads were recently used by German carmaker Mercedes-Benz to highlight its flagship S-Class model's 'Magic Body Control' in a slightly bizarre but entertaining ad. The commercial aimed to show how the S-Class's high-tech arsenal of sensors and cameras monitored the road surface ahead and automatically adjusted the suspension to keep the ride smooth and silky. Watch the desktop version of the Jaguar chicken ad here. Jaguar found the chicken motif too good a target to resist, and have fired a returning salvo in their own ad wobbling a chicken around ... "see -- it's just like a Mercedes," the Jaguar boffin says. Then he pits the fowl against a jaguar. Things go exactly as you'd think, which is essentially not at all a happy ending for the poultry. Watch the Mercedes-Benz chicken ad here. "We prefer cat-like reflexes," Jaguar tells us -- hinting the luxury S-Class might be a bit short on sportiness, but without highlighting any particular car. Although the tagline 'Good to be bad' is one being used in the US for the new F-Type. We're hoping that over in Germany they're going to come up with an equally amusing response. This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott    

While the Jaguar XJ is one of the best looking offerings in its class, its avant-garde styling has come at a cost. The sloping roof may give the XJ a sleek look but it has come at the cost of space for rear-seat passengers. Jaguar remains divided on whether to stick with this dramatic look for the next generation of its flagship sedan or switch to a conventional three-box shape that maximizes interior space. According to Edmunds, Jaguar’s solution is to go with both options; that is, to build two distinct versions of the next XJ. The reason behind the decision is said to be the divergent tastes in Jaguar's global markets, particularly between those of China and the US. In China, it’s common for luxury sedan owners to ride along in the back seat and have a chauffeur deal with the driving duties. It’s because of this reason that rear-seat space is crucial. In the US., it’s the dramatic, almost fastback look that makes the XJ stand out, and returning to the rather dull look of the previous-generation XJ is unlikely to be a popular move among Jaguar’s ranks. Not much else is known about the next XJ, though Jaguar has previewed a plug-in hybrid drivetrain that is expected to feature in the car. A lightweight aluminum chassis will remain, and combined with the hybrid system could see the new luxury sedan return a fuel economy in excess of 70 mpg.

Some have something simple, like squeaky brakes or weird tyre wear, but there are others with major dramas.Just this week I've had a Volkswagen owner who needed a new engine and a Range-Rover tragic, owner of close to a dozen of the top-end SUVs, who is heading for an all-new replacement off the back of more than 20 fruitless trips to the repair shop with his $100,000-plus pick.Every one of these problems reminds me that cars are complex. And even the best ones can go wrong. But the cars of today are so much better than the cars of just 20 years ago that it's almost beyond belief.The only truly bad car I've test driven this year is the Chery J1. The Chinese toddler has quality that's worse than the original Korean arrivals in Australia and, if I can pick the difference on day one, then it's going to be bad news once it's got a few years and some serious kilometres under its wheels.Flick the calendar back and things were much worse. I still have nightmares about the press preview of the original Holden Camira.The first 'global' car to land in Australia seemed like a good idea, but that was before the gearstick feel out in my hand. And the bonnet flew up for no reason. And the dashboard squeaked and groaned and flexed and wobbled.Every motoring journalist has some sort of Jaguar horror story, and I recall the luxury XJ that dumped all its oil on the brand-new floor of my garage. Then there was the Range Rover that dropped both of its external rear-view mirrors - for now apparent reason - as I overtook through the shock blast of a B-double truck.In recent year, though, the failures have been few and far between. Yes, I've had complaints about the operation of a variety of DSG gearboxes in a variety of Volkswagens, but every car has come through its Carsguide test program without failing.Which brings me to the HSV Commodore I was once driving down the Hume Highway to Melbourne. Everything was fine through the performance runs and cornering trials, so I was dribbling home at a steady 100km/h when the engine failed. No bang, no crash, just a complete absence of power that was eventually traced to a fault on the crankshaft.The real kicker to the story is that I was forced to take a tow to the nearest town from a motoring journalist friend who was making the same trip. And he was driving a  … Jaguar. 

Jaguar's capacity reduction program matches similar moves made by Audi and Mercedes-Benz - and even Ford with its Falcon EcoBoost - and aims to reduce fuel consumption while matching the performance of bigger engines. In fact, the new supercharged V6 in the XF is 14 per cent more fuel efficient than the 5-litre V8 it replaces. This V6 will also be used in next year's F-Type. New from November is a 2-litre, four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine and a 3-litre V6 supercharged petrol for the mid-size XF and luxury XJ. The small-bore four is a new addition but the 177kW/450Nm blown V6 replaces the existing normally-aspirated 3-litre V6. The new V6 will also replace the 5-litre V8 - which gets dumped - in the XF but will become an addition to the engine options in the XJ. All come here with stop-start systems and eight-speed automatic transmissions. Jaguar will slot the XF's 2-litre four into the XJ primarily for the Chinese market - though some may be available in Europe - but there are no plans for this combination to reach Australia. Jaguar Australia brand manager Kevin Goult says the new turbo-four and blown V6 will debut at the Sydney motor show in October and expects them on the showroom floor by early November. "Cosmetically, the XF and XJ will remain the same,'' he says. He's not giving away pricing however one expects the V6 supercharged in the XJ to come in at about the same price as the existing V8, which has a drive-away sticker of $195,000. The same V6 in the XF should about match the 2.2-litre turbo-diesel version at about $79,000. Prices will be confirmed by Jaguar at the Sydney show. Jaguar's XF petrol engine line up in Australia come November will be the 177kW/340Nm 2-litre turbo-four; 250kW/450Nm 3-litre supercharged V6; and the 5-litre supercharged V8 in two output versions. Turbo-diesels are the 147kW/450Nm 2.2-litre and 202kW/600Nm 3-litre V6. The XJ petrol engines are the supercharged V6; 283kW/515Nm 5-litre V8; and the 346kW/575Nm and 375kW/625Nm versions of the supercharged 5-litre V8. There's also a 202kW/600Nm V6 turbo-diesel. Fuel consumption of the new four and V6 are claimed to average 8.9 L/100km and 9.4 L/100km  respectively in the XF. Jaguar's aluminium XJ models will also pick up the tauter and more sophisticated suspension previously available only on the XJ Ultimate model. The suspension features re-calibrated spring and damper tuning with remapped damper software to ``enhance'' - Jaguar's words - passenger comfort. The Portfolio and Supersport XJ models will come with an upgraded 825W Meridian DAB audio with 20 speakers. It will be optional on other models.  

And it’s doing duty in the one place where you wouldn’t mind waiting for a taxi. The Jaguar move echoes the BMW ‘Ring Taxi that runs from April to October – and this year updates to the F10 BMW M5 – offering hot laps of the Nurburgring. Ring queen and BBC Top Gear star guest Sabine Schmitz used to be among the BMW drivers, but the wheel is now taken by BMW Driving Experience instructors.  The BMW M5 Ring Taxis carry a 418kW/681Nm bi-turbo 4.4-litre V8 engine, mated to an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. The M5 claims a 0-100km/h time of 4.4 seconds, and a top speed of 305km/h with the optional hi-po package. That kind of performance cred makes the long-wheelbase limo XJ seem a strange starting point for the Jaguar Ring taxi, but that’s exactly the point, according to the Brit brand. "We found it's the XJ Supersport that most often surprises journalists with its speed simply because they perceive it to be a large luxury car,” global head of communications Frank Klaas says. “The XJ is both those things, of course, but its aluminium architecture means it's rigid and lightweight too, which make it a very good car on track. To underline that fact, our engineering team created this special Nürburgring taxi version in which our trained drivers can safely take passengers on very hot laps." The Jaguar Supersport Ring taxi is fitted with the optional Sport and Vmax Speed packs, which add aerodynamic kit, bigger wheels and brakes – and tuning for the 375kW/625Nm engine that raises the top speed from 250km/h to 280km/h. Taaaaxi!  

Kids aren’t usually a factor in Car of the Year judging.  But child friendliness rates highly with women buying cars – and with women judging cars.The countdown has been kicked off to decide the Women’s World Car of the Year, and the kid factor is one the judges pay a lot of attention to.“Statistics show that women drive children in cars significantly more often than men – and that means women need to take that into account, both when buying and as judges of cars,” WCOTY president Sandy Myhre said from New Zealand.“Any woman who has grappled constantly with child seats and belts and children considers those things when looking at buying a car.  Men might too but the fact is, women drive children in cars more than men.“Women would not consider that aspect in a Porsche 911 more than a bloke. The point is, it can be considered in these awards - and that is one of the points of difference in these awards.”Myhre points out that significant research into buying habits show that in addition to buying for themselves, women have a major influence in household purchase decisions for big ticket items.Ford Australia, for example, says their research shows that women are behind the majority of purchases of the Territory SUV – either as single women buying one, or in influencing the joint decision with their partner. “A report from Mattingly & Associates in Australia concluded, in part, that businesses that didn't understand this influence would be hard-pressed to stay in business.  That report was aptly called 'When I've Made Up Our Minds',” Myhre says.However, the kid factor is just one of the criteria by which the 2012 Women’s World Car of the Year will be judged.There are four categories in the Women's World Car of the Year – Family Car, Luxury Car, Sports Car and Economy Car. Points are allocated to each of ten criteria: driveability, engineering, comfort, child friendliness, style, interior, storage, dashboard efficiency, carbon footprint and colour range.The 20 judges from eleven countries have submitted their own personal short list and more than 300 cars were suggested. These individual choices were then whittled down to form a master list of 32 in terms of popularity. Judges will now allocate points for these cars from a criteria list.The announcement of the winning cars in each category and the supreme winner will be made before the end of March. The supreme award trophy and category certificates will be presented to the car companies concerned at the Mondial de l’Automobile 2012 – the Paris Motor Show – in September. The supreme trophy will this year be made in The Netherlands. Category-winner certificates will be designed at Peartree Studios in Colerne, UK.The first winner of the Women's World Car of the Year was the Jaguar XF in 2010 and the trophy made in South Africa was presented at the Jaguar boutique showroom in Knightsbridge, London. In 2011 there was a dead-heat between the Citroen DS3 and the BMW 5 Series. The two trophies made in India were presented at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2011. 

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

For Jaguar, the 120 gram per kilometre CO2 fleet limit that becomes effective from January 1, 2012 will be difficult but – thanks to the diesel and micro-hybrid models of sister company Land Rover – not impossible. But that hasn't stopped Jaguar developing its own low-emission answers. At the launch this week of the Jaguar XJ, project chief engineer Andy Dobson said trials were continuing on a new XJ car with a three-cylinder petrol engine driving a generator that powers electric motors. Mr Dobson said hybrid Jaguars would be the first low-emission models to be launched and expected delivery in 2012. "We see a better future in starting with hybrids and perhaps later into full electric cars," he said. "I don’t see hydrogen or ethanol as being fuels with the best answers. But a move into stop-start technology, hybrid technology and electric vehicles offer better solutions for us." Jaguar sees itself as already making inroads into reducing fuel use and CO2 emissions by using the light weight benefits of an all-alloy construction in its latest XJ saloon. It has not dismissed using the same body material for the next generation XF model which is currently predominantly made of steel. Mr Dobson said Jaguar was using expertise for its electric and hybrid future both from in-house development and through aligning itself with specialist suppliers. Now owned by Tata of India, Jaguar can no longer use the technology of its former owner, Ford.

The Jaguar saloon, priced from $198,000, aims to hit hard at the BMW 7-Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class Australian market after crunching its rivals on the UK and China showroom floors. Jaguar Australia boss Kevin Goult says he wants 120 sales in 2011 and expects the six months left in 2010 to attract at least 60 buyers. The first Australian delivery is later this month. In Jaguar’s 75th year, the XJ appears as a fluid extension of designer Ian Callum’s 2009 Jaguar XF model – despite the XJ being penned before the XF – and so presents as an extremely attractive car that shines over the more masculine shape of the 7-Series. "We are getting a lot of interest from existing Jaguar owners but more importantly, a very big audience from BMW, Audi and Mercedes drivers," Goult says. "I expect it to reproduce the success, but on a slightly smaller scale, of that in Britain and China." While its bread-and-butter rivals include the BMW and Mercedes, Jaguar believes the high-performance 375kW Supersports will also appeal to buyers also looking at the Porsche Panamera, Aston Martin Rapide and Maserati Quattroporte. Goult says one of the XJ's biggest attractions is its ability to be customised. "Even the badge at the centre of the cabin's dash, can be individualised to be inscribed with your name, your wife's name... anybody’s name,"’ he says. "The version shown at the car’s launch this week on the Gold Coast had designer Ian Callum's signature. You can have what you want. It's your car." DRIVETRAINS The XJ initially arrives with three engines and will be boosted later in the year with the awesome Supersports 375kW/625Nm supercharged 5-litre V8. There is also talk of the XF’s 3-litre V6 petrol coming later as Jaguar prepares this engine for the diesel-hating US market. The three engines for Australia now are the 202kW/600Nm 3-litre V6 turbo-diesel; 283kW/515Nm 5-litre V8; and low-boost supercharged 5-litre V8 with 346kW and 575Nm. The engines all mate to ZF six-speed automatics with three driver modes and steering column-mounted paddle shifters. Jaguar then bolts these drivetrain choices into standard 3032mm wheelbase and long wheelbase (3157mm) aluminium bodies that weigh as little as 1755kg – a far cry from many of its steel-bodies rivals and remarkably around the same weight as its sister XF models. JAGUAR XJ AT A GLANCE Pricing V6 turbo-diesel Premium Luxury SWB $198,800 V6 turbo-diesel Premium Luxury LWB $206,800 V8 petrol Premium Luxury SWB $251,000 V8 petrol Premium Luxury LWB $259,000 V8 petrol Portfolio SWB $274,000 V8 supercharged Portfolio SWB $311,000 V8 supercharged Supersport SWB $354,800 V8 supercharged Supersport LWB $367,000. Standard features Cruise control Dual-zone climatic airconditioning 600Watt 1-CD/iPod 12-speaker audio Bi-xenon headlights with washers Heated front and rear glass Rain-sensing wipers Metallic paint Rear park sensors/camera Electric boot open/close Panoramic glass roof Keyless entry/start Virtual instrumentation Interactive voice command, Bluetooth Leather upholstery. Optional 1200-Watt Bowers & Wilkins 20-speaker audio Active ventilated front/rear seats Adaptive cruise control. Specifications Body: four-door aluminium/magnesium saloonEngines: 3-litre V6 202kW/600Nm bi-turbodiesel; 5-litre 283kW/515Nm petrol V8; 5-litre 346kW/575Nm supercharged petrol V8; 375kW/625Nm supercharged petrol V8 SupersportTransmission: 6-speed ZF automatic; steering column paddles; three-modesFuel economy: 7.0 l/100km (diesel); 11.3 l/100km (V8); 12.1 /100km (supercharged V8)0-100km/h: 6.4sec (diesel); 5.7sec (V8); 5.2sec (s/c V8); 4.9sec (Supersport)Dimensions: length: 5122mm (SWB), 5247mm (LWB), width: 2110mm (inc mirrors), height: 1448mm, wheelbase: 3032mm (SWB); 3157mm (LWB)Weight: 1796kg (diesel SWB); 1755kg (V8 SWB); 1892kg (s/c V8); 1915kg (V8 Supersport LWB)

The Geneva Motor Show is known as the stylist's exhibition. It's the chance for high-end European brands to display their latest creations. So it was appropriate Jaguar chose the classy Swiss city in which to unwrap its revised XJ sedan. The XJ, with many visual changes, will reach local showrooms late this year. The engines carry over from the 2.7-litre twin-turbo TDVi V6 diesel to a 3.0-litre petrol V6 and up to the 4.2-litre supercharged and naturally aspirated V8s. For next year there is a new Jaguar Growler badge, revised front bumper and air intakes, XK-style vents in the front mudguards, lower body sills, new alloys, subtle rear bootlid spoiler and new mirrors with integrated indicators. Inside, the leather and wood cabin gets heated front seats and rear legroom has been improved, thanks to more scalloped front seatbacks. Bluetooth connectivity pairs with up to five mobile phone choices and hands-free activation. In Europe, the entry-level Executive (2.7 and 3.0) gets 19-inch, 10-spoke Carelia wheels from the XK and a heated windscreen. The diesel-only XJ Sport Premium adds "R" seats with leather seat facings, aluminium veneer, satellite-navigation, black side window surrounds and 20-inch Cremona wheels. Executive-based XJ Sovereign models (2.7, 3.0 and 4.2) add 16-way electric front seats, satellite navigation, bi-xenon headlights and five-spoke, 19-inch Polaris wheels. The range-topping XJR has alloy-look mudguard vents, an R-badged gearshift, black brake calipers and front-seat cooling. The XJ is something of a slow-burner on the sales charts for cars worth more than $100,000. Last year Jaguar sold only 59 XJ sedans compared with 578 S-Classes and 293 7-Series.