Australians not ready for Jag's first four-pot limo

Jaguar has introduced a pair of downsized force-fed petrol engines as part of an upgraded 13MY XF and XJ range, and together they’re expected to comprise half the sales of both models globally next year.

However, while the Ford-sourced 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine, which also does duty in Ford Australia’s Falcon, will power a new entry-level version of the XF locally, Jaguar doesn’t believe Australians are ready for the first four-cylinder XJ limousine.

Full pricing and details of the Australian 13MY XF and XJ line-up will be announced at the Australian International Motor Show in Sydney next month before first deliveries take place in November, when the XF 2.0 i4 Ti will become the new XF range-opener priced under $80,000.

Currently, Australia’s petrol XF line-up opens with a 3.0-litre V6 petrol-powered model, which will be replaced by the new turbo-four model that Jaguar says will allow the XF to appeal to the final 25 per cent of the large luxury sedan market previously unavailable to it.

Further up the XF range, the new 3.0-litre supercharged petrol V6 – a more powerful version of which will power next year’s all-new F-TYPE convertible – will replace the naturally aspirated 5.0-litre V8 model, which currently attracts less than 10 per cent of sales. The supercharged V6 is forecast to become the volume-selling XF variant in Australia.

The same engine will also replace the XJ 5.0 V8 and is expected to power the most popular XJ model, with pricing forecast to undercut that of the existing XJ 3.0-litre turbodiesel, which presently opens the line-up at $165,000 drive-away.

Jaguar Australia Brand Manager Kevin Goult said that, for now, the XJ 2.0 i4 Ti is not earmarked for the local market (or the UK) because Australians are unlikely to accept such a small engine in what is the luxury British brand’s flagship four-door.

“We don’t want to bring in an XJ that is too cheap,” said Mr Goult. “We’ll look at demand, but our instinct is that Australia isn’t ready for a four-cylinder XJ. I don’t think there’s enough demand for it in a segment that is getting smaller and smaller.”

Mr Goult also indicated Jaguar was wary of cannibalising XF sales with a cheaper XJ, but didn’t rule out a local release for the 2.0-litre XJ eventually.

As for the XF range, Mr Goult said Jaguar Australia was unlikely to considerably undercut the sub-$80,000 starting price of the current line-up with its new XF 2.0 i4 Ti, which will be cheaper than the XF 2.2D diesel introduced last year at $84,990 drive-away.

“There’s an opportunity to tweak XF pricing with the introduction of the 13MY range and the new four-cylinder petrol engine, but we need to be careful,” he said. “Two and a half years ago the (XF) price point was $99,990, so we have to look after our customers. Dropping the price too much is not good for resale values.”

Fuel consumption is listed at 9.3L/100km for the 2.0-litre XJ and 8.9L/100km for the marginally lighter 2.0-litre XF – both of with produce 177kW and 340Nm – while the 250kW/450Nm 3.0-litre supercharged V6 returns 9.4L/100km in the XJ.

Apart from the new engines, the range-wide fitment of a new eight-speed automatic transmission and (except for the 2.0-litre) a fuel-saving idle-stop system brings efficiency improvements across the board as part of Jaguar’s midlife makeover for the latest XJ, which was first released in Australia in 2010.

As such, Jaguar says the 13MY XJ 3.0 V6 diesel now consumes 6.0L1/00km and emits 159g/km of CO2 (down from 169g/km) while offering improved in-gear acceleration.

Combined with an eight-speed auto and idle-stop, the 13MY XF 2.2D now returns 5.1L/100km and emits 135g/km of CO2

At the other end of the economy scale, Jaguar Australia will also introduce an optional Speed Pack for the 13MY XFR sports sedan, which raises the car’s top speed to 280km/h – more than the electronically limited top speeds of its direct rivals in the BMW M5 and Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG. The XFR’s 5.0-litre supercharged V8 engine and eight-speed auto have been recalibrated and the XFR Speed Pack also brings a front bumper splitter and subtle rear wing, but there are no changes to the standard XFR’s 4.9-second 0-100km/h acceleration time.

Pricing is yet to be confirmed for the XFR Speed Pack, which will become available from November in Australia as part of the upgraded 13MY XF range, but expect it to cost around $5000 extra.

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