LAUNCHREPORT: JAGUAR XJ:'YOU CAN sell a young man's car to old guys, but you can't sell an old man's car to young guys." It was the most appropriate explanation of why Jaguar needed to change, summed up by US talk show host and petrolhead Jay Leno as he waxed lyrical about the Jaguar's brave new direction, writes MICHAEL McALEER,Motoring Editor
It’s official: the brand has been reborn. While the stunning XF pointed to a radical shift in the firm’s image, this revolutionary restyling of its flagship model calls time on two decades of nostalgic nonsense that ultimately threatened to topple the brand.
If Jaguar set out to purge its increasingly musty old-world image, it couldn’t have done it more publicly had it taken out an old XJ and burned it on a funeral pyre of tweed suits and old-school ties.
Where once the arrival of a new XJ would have been hosted at the Ritz, attended by company chairmen and the odd Battle of Britain veteran, this new car was at the Saatchi Gallery and witnessed by a plethora of international celebrities, including Elle Macpherson and David Hasselhoff. Sophie Ellis Bextor acted as DJ. This is about as far from traditional Jaguar fare as it gets.
And as Leno’s line suggests, it was never going to be an option to simply cater for the old school. Besides, the firm’s founder, Sir William Lyons, certainly didn’t intend to swaddle the brand in history. It was always meant to be a forward-looking.
The ultimate goal is to rediscover Jaguar’s DNA from the glory days of Lyons and his team. “It’s about making Jaguars that are quintessentially Jaguars,” explains managing director Michael O’Driscoll.
He says that, when you consider the cars created by Lyons back in the 1950s, they were incredibly cutting-edge and innovative for their time. That’s what the future of the brand is going to be about.
The changes so far have been undertaken at a pretty phenomenal pace in motor industry terms. In just 24 months we have witnessed a radical shift in the model line-up. With this new XJ, there are now three new models that clearly reflec the brand’s new direction: the XF, XK and now this, the flagship car. The next step is still not confirmed, but rumours suggest it may be a high-performance sports car – to compete against the Italians at Ferrari and Maserati.
It’s not just about image. It’s also about quality: questionable reliability in the 1980s damaged the brand in key markets like the US, but the latest JD Power reliability figures – one of the most respected surveys in the motor industry, ranked Jaguar right at the top. It’s a Lazarus-like revival.
At the coalface, carving out a new future for the brand, is design chief Ian Callum. Having penned the styling of the XK and XF to public and media acclaim, his new XJ is a more controversial proposition.
The night before the official unveiling, sneak images were already hitting online motoring message boards. Initial reactions were extremely strong. Several made less than flattering comparisons with the rear lines of the 1980s Ford Scorpio. Others were wowed by its coupé looks, maintaining proper luxury proportions inside. If Jaguar was hoping to stoke debate on the new direction, it certainly managed it.
Whereas the XF is a natural beauty, this car takes more study. The front is a definite hit, carrying similarly aggressive and muscular lines to its smaller sibling. The side profile carries similarly smart proportions. It’s when the roof starts to taper and the rear pillars become dark glass that the look starts to seem a little disjointed. New sweeping light clusters on the back and a large leaping cat break up the sizeable spread of metal from the rear.
Our view of the XJ has changed a dozen times since we were first given a sneak peak and so has this review. On the move, the car looks as good as we had hoped, but from some angles you baulk at the rather clunky C-pillar styling. The Scorpio’s ghost could yet sting Jaguar sales.
Inside, the new car has the same styling tricks as the XF, with its pulsating start button, rising transmission dial and quality touchscreen system.
There’s the usual mix of wood panelling and stitched leather that defines it as luxury premium with British roots, but there’s a serious splash of technology. The binnacle is no longer simple analogue clocks, but a digital display that illustrates dials, rev counter and Sat-Nav instructions.
That will seem radical for some XJ owners, as will the rather busy steering wheel. The interior finish is very much to a standard one would expect from a luxury car. Chrome controls and a sweeping line of wood trim stretching across the dash add to the allure.
The central console screen also has some clever pixels, so the front passenger can watch a movie while the driver only sees the sat-nav or control menu. A dual-mode touchscreen with simultaneous operations; it’s very smart and would expect it from Lexus rather than something with its roots in Birmingham.
With myriad visible changes on the surface, it’s easy to forget what’s under the bonnet. While retaining the aluminium architecture, the engine range is based on a 3-litre V6 diesel or a new 5-litre petrol, either normally aspirated or supercharged. All are tapped with a six-speed automatic transmission.
The big news is that the diesel – which replaces the old 2.7-litre block – is 33 per cent more powerful, while managing 7 litres/100km (40.1mpg) and 184g/km, putting road tax at €630. That’s lower than any of its German counterparts, with savings of over €420 a year in road tax alone.
Radical changes were long overdue at Jaguar and the close-knit management team would give you great confidence that they’ll pull it off. What people will make of the XJ’s radical new image is less clear.
It’s not just about ignoring the traditionalists: it’s just as important to wow the moneyed youth, the sort who watch Jay Leno, ogle at Macpherson and laugh along with the antics of ‘the Hoff’. Jaguar has certainly got the image, tone and quality to fit, but it could all come a cropper on a quirky rear C-pillar.