Jaguar XK 2008 News

So when Shell Australia's new boss Ann Pickard came to Australia, she had more trouble buying a car than expected. The US-born business dynamo, described by Fortune Magazine as "the bravest woman in oil and one of the 50 most powerful women in business" was vice-president of the company's operation in south-Saharan Africa, based in Lagos, Nigeria. "I had a Land Cruiser for the five-and-a-half years I was there," Pickard says. "So when I got the chance to move to Australia, I decided to treat myself to something a little more to my liking. I opted for a Jaguar XKR, and since I would be based in Perth, sought out the local Jag agents." She phoned to order the car but didn't get past reception. "I said 'hello, I'm Ann Pickard from Nigeria' and the next thing I heard was a click as the line went dead," she says. It happened several times before the proverbial penny dropped, so she resorted to email. Even that took some convincing - and fortunately someone at the Perth premium car dealership took it seriously. Pickard got her car, but that wasn't the end of her dramas. The long-awaited Jag was soon stolen - something that never happened to her in Nigeria - but it was found again only hours later, and life for Pickard purrs on.

It says everything about the ubiquity of such things that the authorities in Baghdad are holding one. What better way to present the image that all's well in this most dangerous of cities than to stick a bunch of cars on stands and charge admission?The realisation that these things are becoming a bit of a yawn has not been lost on the organisers of the British International Motor Show, which has kicked off in London's Docklands.It started with the most memorable pre-launch stunt in recent history, Opel's new Insignia being lowered by a massive crane from atop Tower Bridge. Cute as these things go, but counting for nothing if the show lacked stars and substance.Unlike some other international motor shows, the Brit edition has plenty of both. There are 600 cars running the alphabetical gamut from Alfa Romeo to ZEV (that'd be Zero Emission Vehicles) worth some $100 million.While Britain's biggest consumer exhibition comes close to being all things to all people, it's the 23 models making their debut that is the chief draw for the anticipated 550,000 punters.The show-stealer is undoubtedly the Lotus Evora. The Norfolk marque's first all-new model in 12 years is a mid-engined 2+2 V6, intended to give Porsche something to think about, especially if _ as anticipated _ it combines the brand's trademark lightweight build (just 1350kg) with razor handling.While the Evora represents a significant step forward for Lotus, Jaguar has looked to the past for the XK60, a captivating special edition of the current production coupe to commemorate the unveiling of legendary XK120 sporters in 1948.Powered by the atmo version of the 4.2 V8, the Jag cops enhancements such as 20-inch Senta alloy wheels, alloy gear knob and selector-gate surround, new front spoiler, chrome-finished side vents and special tailpipe finishers. Which is nice.Performance with an eco-conscience? Why not? Mercedes-Benz is showcasing its BlueTEC version of the stylish CLS. Reassuringly for the rev-hungry, there's a Brabus-built Bullit Black Arrow, their V12-engined C-Class.The show's green tinge is evident in the Lightning Car Company's Lightning, a 100 per cent electric GT sports car, and Allied Vehicles' E7 electric taxi, whose lithium-ion batteries imbue the seven-seater with a range of 160km and top speed of 100km/h. Other green gambits include the Ford Fiesta ECOnetic with carbon dioxide emissions of less than 100g/km.While the British blowout is not spoken of in the same breath as the biennial Frankfurt or Paris salons, the lesson for organisers of Australian events are salient.Not least of these is making `events' singular _ just as we have too much government for 21 million people, there are too many annual shows. Oh, and staging it in a venue that's spacious and accessible isn't a bad idea, either. 

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. 

The Jaguar XK coupe and convertible are set for a mid-year arrival in Australia. Jaguar Australia managing director David Blackhall said the all-aluminium XK convertible would be priced at $221,900 and the coupe at $199,990. The Jaguars will have the same slick ZF six-speed gearboxes featured in some of the Ford BF Falcon and SY Territory range. Blackhall also announced that the first Jaguar diesel, the S-Type twin-turbo 2.7-litre four-cylinder, will arrive in April and cost $101,490. It will also feature at the Brisbane show. "There has been growth in demand for diesel in Australia," Blackhall said. The S-Type diesel is part of an expanded range of diesels which Jag will bring into Australia. The diesel sits on 18-inch wheels and has 153kW of power but, more importantly, offers a prodigious 435Nm of torque.