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2009 Jaguar XF – Is It the “HM?”

2009 Jaguar XF – Is It the “HM?”

By Marty Padgett's avatar Marty PadgettMarty Padgett May 15th, 2007

Article ImageEnlarge Photo


When we saw the latest photos of the Jaguar XF this morning, a colleague reminded us that this could be the last new Jaguar interior we see for a while. Even our spy photographers refer to the XF as the Hail Mary for Jaguar – a last chance before Ford loses its final bits of patience for a turnaround at its English patient.

What we’ve seen of the XF so far looks great, frankly. The wedgy shape ditches the old S-Type’s frumpy, referential style and tosses the XF squarely against the latest Audis, BMWs and Lexuses. Inside, these latest spy shots show a more serious and performance-oriented cabin.

But will it be enough? Even in a car market flush with buyers and low interest rates, Jaguar had tough times. In fact, in the U.S., sales performance has been dismal, particularly for the new XJ.

The XF is due late in 2008. Tell us what you think – will the XF really be Jaguar’s Hail Mary? Or is it too little, too late?

2009 JAGUAR XF SPIED – INSIDE!—TheCarConnection.com Enlarge Photo When we saw the latest photos of the Jaguar XF this morning, a colleague reminded us that this could be the last new Jaguar interior we see for a while. Even our spy photographers refer to the XF as the Hail Mary for Jaguar – a last chance before Ford loses its final bits of patience for a turnaround at its English patient. What we’ve seen of the XF so far looks great, frankly. The wedgy shape ditches the old S-Type’s frumpy, referential style and tosses the XF squarely against the latest Audis, BMWs and Lexuses. Inside, these latest spy shots show a more serious and performance-oriented cabin. But will it be enough? Even in a car market flush with buyers and low interest rates, Jaguar had tough times. In fact, in the U.S., sales performance has been dismal, particularly for the new XJ. The XF is due late in 2008. Tell us what you think – will the XF really be Jaguar’s Hail Mary? Or is it too little, too late? 2009 JAGUAR XF SPIED – INSIDE!—TheCarConnection.com

Tags: Spy Shots, Shoppers

Posted in: 2007, 2009, Jaguar, XF



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Responses (19 total)

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  1. By Joe #1, Posted: 5/15/2007

    I've wondered what Ford's been thinking with Jaguar for a number of years, now. Here they have truly world-class engineering capability in their portfolio, but the failure to execute a revitalization at Jaguar has eluded them to the point that it seems as though they never even tried. A particular case in point- the proposed Jaguar F-Type. The stunning show car from 2000 was a real "no-brainer". Here was a car that the masses craved, and the faithful truly adored. What did Ford do? Cocked the whole thing up by developing a far less interesting, mid-engined Boxter clone, then scrapping the thing after wasting a wad of cash, time and talent. From the sidelines, it looks so simple- Take the Miata platform and push the front wheels forward 6 inches for Jaguar "properness", let the Cosworth or Jag engineers develop a new inline six, and sell the thing for $39,995 all day long. I'm sure the new XF is nice- but I remain skeptical....

  2. By Atomicbri #2, Posted: 5/16/2007

    I am not sure, while the interior is new and a definate improvement....It is not a leap, Jag and Ford should have just pulled out all the stops and just went for it, designing an interior like the showcar's, modern, futuristic and advance. This looks a little run of the mill, which worries me about the exterior of it....will it too play it too safe comapred to the awesome showcar?

  3. By Henry #3, Posted: 5/16/2007

    Jaguar never had a edgy shape. The ones that did were unsucessful cars that aren't Jaguars in the minds of many enthusiasts. The XJ-S was a car every bit as ugly as the XF. I prefer the 2003-2007 S-types styling as my favorite Jag of this age. Prior to that, the Mark 2, the S-type (1960s models) and the 420 were all sensuous vehicles with real touches that made them stand above the rest. They were styled by Jaguar founder Sir William Lyons in the 1960's. Styling cues from these cars have been imitated on and off by many automakers since.

    This think looks like it was styled by a third grader with a kitchen knife. William Lyons is turning over in his grave right about now. I don't think that he would like to see the equivalent of a 1980's Japanese car interior being stuffed into anything with a Jaguar badge

  4. By Chris Pinkney #4, Posted: 5/16/2007

    I have it on good authority that the drivers hand is not hiding an i-drive joystick but a version of the gear change control seen on the concept car, a rotary dial which "appears" from the consol wehn required, for selection of drive, neutral, reverse, manual gearchanges being taken care of by the paddles.
    I'm concerened that the dash looks too same as everything else, Jaguar are late to the brushed alluminium, square looking dash and fittings and as such are behind, contempory design soon looks old. Look at the XK, the concept dash was toned down for the production model and its been tweeked with more wood available for traditionalists. Same as the original S-Type this interior is wrong and a face lift will have to come soon. As for the stitching I only hope it looks better in real life than the photo which looks hideous!

  5. By bart jomama #5, Posted: 5/16/2007

    interesting interior. looks upscale, but the design seems boring.

    exterior should be good tho!


    you can see the push-button start, but his hand is covering the shifter, I'm hoping the concept shifter makes it into the real car, cuz that was just too cool to pass up!

  6. By Elliott #6, Posted: 5/16/2007

    Finally! Although I liked the S-Type when it first appeared, the shape got long in the tooth quick against the competition. I think this is their one of their "Hail Mary's". The reality is every car they build is in a highly competitive market. To stay afloat they NEED: the XF, a modern XJ (speed it up a year!), a new modern X-Type (change the name to XC or something like that), a cross-over (so what you're under the umbrella with Land Rover, you won't take any of their business, only increase yours), a coupe to compete with the G37, CLK, A5, and 3 Series, and the XK.

    The next thing that they could do is find ways to lower their cost structure, like build cars in the US...Ford definitely has enough plants. IF BMW and MB can do it why not Jag? Good product portfolio, lower production cost, profitability... what a concept.

  7. By Henry #7, Posted: 5/16/2007

    I would like to see a Jag built in the United States, but I don't think thats necessarily the right thing to do. It is true that the current S is long in the tooth for some, but I could think of many detail improvements and redesigns that could be done to retain more of a Jaguar feel to it than it has already.

    This design looks like it was designed on bring your kid to work day at Scion's design studio.

    I disagree with the previous poster. Jaguar absolutely, positively needs to dump the X-type in the lake. It is nothing more than a 1996 Ford Contour dressed up in a cat suit. A Crossover vehicle might work. Jaguar built extremely large sedans in the 1940's through the early 1960's (also, the 420G). They were pretty successful. If they could bring that kind of design into it, a crossover may be somewhat coveted. If it looks like a Lexus RX whatever, Jag should just forget it.

    You know, besides the 1990's when the X300 XJ was introduced, Jag was most successful in the 1950's and the 1960's. Sir William Lyons designed the cars, and believe it or not, the guy couldn't even draw. He just knew how a cat was supposed to look.

  8. By Henry #8, Posted: 5/17/2007

    I meant to say that the XF's design looks like it has been designed at Scion's design studio.

  9. By S M Montgomery #9, Posted: 5/17/2007

    I loved the concept XF, inside and out. I thought it looked fantastic. But the exterior of XF shares much of the elegance of modern Lexus cars with only a hint of Jaguar detailing. Is it enough? I don't know. Well, it looks great; maybe that will win through anyway.

    The concept's interior looked amazing. The spy shot interior looks good. It does not look amazing. I hope that horizontal grey plank running across the dash comes in more stylish colours/textures; the airvents should have closed smoothly like in a VW Phaeton; and I hope those door panels are sorted in the production car - they just can't seem to achieve what Audi achieves in terms of perceived quality...

    Lastly, would you car websites make up your minds about the engines the car will have! Either it gets the 3.0l V6 (old and bad), or it gets the 3.2l I6 from Volvo (new and better, if not as good as a BMW unit). I've seen so many reports of either!

  10. By Gene B #10, Posted: 5/18/2007

    The interior is boring - a poor effort. The exterior is too watered-down. They didn't go far enough - the designers were timid, afraid to produce anything as cool as the show car. It will flop. There's no time left for the timid in this business.

    Ford better lower their sales expectations.

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