Revealed: First pictures and details of 2015 Jaguar XF

Jaguar has offered the first look of its all-new Jaguar XF, less than a week ahead of its official reveal.

The firm plans to give the second-generation XF a public debut at the New York Motor Show on April 1. But the car will be seen in full online on the evening of March 24, when the car will be driven by British stuntman Jim Dowdall over two 34-mm diameter wires high above water.

The stunt drive by the man who’s driven in Bond, Bourne and Indiana Jones films among others is designed to showcase the XF’s lightweight credentials.

A sole exterior image of the new XF reveals sharper creases on the bodywork, including the sculpted bonnet with Jaguar’s distinctive power bulge, the flared rear wheel arches and pronounced shoulder line. There also appears to be an almost coupé-like profile to the car, with the cabin pushed backwards.

The new XF will draw heavily on the styling of the XE. Significantly, the new XF 
will also carry a scaled-up version of the XE’s grille, as Jagur moves to ensure 
that all of its models are instantly recognisable in the rear-view mirror of drivers ahead.

Global customer surveys have revealed that 
the brand is not identifiable enough on the road in emerging markets, prompting the 
move to a stricter, more cohesive family look.

“In this segment, brand recognition is everything,” said an insider. “If you own an Audi, you want people to know you own an Audi, and not everyone can look at an XF today and say: ‘That is a Jaguar’.

“In the UK, we all know what a Jaguar looks like, but as we push into new markets and the XE draws in new customers who have never bought from us before, it’s increasingly important people see our cars and know they are a Jaguar.”

The XF’s footprint has also increased slightly over that of the current car. This is not only to provide greater distance in the range to the BMW 3 Series-sized XE but also to increase interior space for passengers and their luggage.

Jaguar has offered little information on the new XF ahead of its reveal next week. It has however promised that it “will set business segment benchmarks for weight and efficiency, resulting in class-leading fuel economy figures of over 70mpg/24.78kpl”.

The impressive economy figures should result in sub-100g/km CO2 emissions, and are in part thanks to the efficiency of the four-cylinder 2.0-litre Ingenium turbodiesel engines that will power the new car.

Jaguar has also shown the interior of the new XF in full ahead of the exterior reveal. It follows the theme of the XE, but is cleaner-looking and more premium than the smaller car, coming with a new dashboard and larger touchscreen in the centre console, and with fewer buttons. Plusher materials also appear to have been used and the instrument binnacle is dominated by large dials.

The sculpting of the dash is also noticeably more dramatic than that of its XE sister car, with a more flowing dash top and recessed air vents. The wide centre console remains similar to that of the XE and today's XF, complete with rotary transmission selector.

Most significantly, it will get Jaguar’s new infotainment system, which includes the InControl Apps system that is described by its makers as “one of the most advanced voice recognition packages in 
the world”. 

In order to further this technology, parent firm Jaguar Land Rover recently announced that it is opening its first R&D facility outside 
the UK, in Portland, Oregon, in the United States. The 30 engineers based at the £2 million facility will join the 240 already employed in the UK to work on connected car technology. 

“Connectivity is an area where we think we can make big steps quickly,” JLR CEO Ralf Speth said at the Los Angeles motor show late last year. 
“We never make predictions about our rivals, but it is an area where we believe we can be agile and where we can react quickly to changing market demands to develop new ideas for our customers.”

The XF will go into production in late 2015 and will be built at the firm’s Castle Bromwich plant. 

It is crucial to the firm as Jaguar seeks to accelerate its new model launches and capitalise on the sales momentum generated by the smaller XE. With the XE expected to more than double Jaguar’s global sales next year to about 160,000 units, the firm is keen to roll out new models and build a range of cars that sit together to offer a more cohesive line-up.

The new XF will be the second Jaguar after the XE to be based on the firm’s scalable, aluminium-intense iQ[Al] platform. Even though the new XF is expected to be slightly larger than the current car – to address rear legroom and boot space concerns – this is likely to provide a significant weight saving over the current chassis.

At present, the XF is typically about 50kg heavier than the Audi A6, BMW 5 Series and Mercedes-Benz E-class.

The new structure will save 50-100kg per car, while the new range of Ingenium engines is up to 80kg lighter per engine than the equivalent Ford units they replace. 

Jaguar intends to use this weight saving to score small but significant agility gains over key rivals. Jaguar insiders admit that they see a growing opportunity to position the brand as the sportiest choice in each segment in which it competes.

They believe that BMW has had to move away from this traditional heartland as it has sought to broaden the appeal of its historically driver-focused cars.

The push to promote Jaguar’s sportiness ensures that the XFR and XFR-S will be replaced. It also raises the possibility of limited runs of extreme vehicles developed by the emerging Special Vehicle Operations department. A near-600bhp V8-engined car has been mooted. 

The XF’s launch timing and venue are significant. April coincides with the first deliveries to customers in Europe of the BMW 3 Series-rivalling XE. Meanwhile, the choice of the US for the XF launch shifts the spotlight back to a continent where the XE is yet to launch. 

In preparation for the launch of the XE and the anticipated boom in customers, Jaguar has undertaken a global revamp of its dealership and staff training programmes.

The firm typically sits in the top three of JD Power customer satisfaction surveys around the world, and it knows it cannot afford to let the extra sales volume affect that performance, which is seen as another key differentiator between it and its German premium rivals.

The original Jaguar C-XFconcept was also launched in the US, at the 2007 Detroit motor show, and the XF facelift was revealed at the New York show in 2011. The car has also been the focus of all-wheel-drive additions to the range in recent years, in a bid primarily to boost sales in the north of the US and Canada. 

In addition, JLR has a track record of using the New York motor show as a major launch venue. Last year it dominated pre-show and post-show headlines by hiring James Bond actor Daniel Craig to reveal the new Range Rover on the eve of the event.

The XF Sportbrake is likely 
to continue to be sold for at least two more years in its existing form, having only 
been launched in March 2012, almost a year after the XF saloon was facelifted. 

A new XF Sportbrake is expected to be given the go-ahead for production. It is likely to be engineered for sale in all markets, including the US.