Jaguar slashes prices

Jaguar has smashed the luxury sedan pricing equation, pitching both its new turbo-petrol and carry-over diesel XF entry-level models into the market below $70,000, while slashing the price of the rest of the range and announcing massive reductions for the XJ limousine and XKR coupe.

The move is being painted by Jaguar Australia as a concerted effort to exploit favourable exchange rates to make the critically acclaimed yet slow-selling XF a serious player against the German heavyweights.

“I was asked if this pricing was dumping … This is not dumping, this is an exchange rate issue. The dollar has gone up 35 per cent against Sterling in the last five years,” said Jaguar Land Rover Asia Pacific Managing Director David Blackhall.

“This is a calculated strategy to try and really unlock the potential of the car. It is a bloody good car - you get people in it and you get it on the road and they love it.”

Mr Blackhall admitted previous pricing had not fully “reflected” exchange rate gains, something recent XF buyers may not appreciate.

Recent buyers of the XJ saloon and XK sports coupe will also feel aggrieved as pricing has been cut by up to $65,000.

The model year 2013 XF 2.0 Litre Luxury will start at $68,900 and the 2.2 Litre Diesel Luxury at $69,900 (before on-road costs) when they go on sale in December.

While the 177kW 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol-turbo XF is a new model using the same engine as the Ford Falcon EcoBoost, the diesel engine continues on with a slight power increase from 140kW to 147kW and a $9000 price cut.

Other changes to the XF range include the introduction of a 250kW 3.0-litre V6 supercharged petrol engine and the dropping of both the naturally aspirated 3.0-litre V6 and 5.0-litre V8 petrol engines.

All XF engines are now mated to ZF’s eight-speed auto and satellite-navigation has been made standard in all models. The 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6 continues unchanged in two grades – 500Nm and 600Nm.

The turbo-petrol XF’s pricing undercuts the entry-level Audi A6 2.0 TFSI and BMW 520i by $9000, and the Mercedes-Benz E200 Elegance BlueEfficiency by $11,000. Around 70 per cent of luxury saloon sales are accounted for by four-cylinder entry-level models.

The new supercharged V6 effectively replaces the V8 in the range and with it comes price cuts of more than $30,000. The supercharged XFR is now the only V8 in the line-up and its price has been cut more than $20,000 to $189,900.

Mr Blackhall said Jaguar was shooting for an improvement of 25 per cent in XF sales. So far in 2012, 512 XFs have been sold, an improvement of 32.6 per cent on 2011.

The XJ range now offers long-wheelbase models at standard-wheelbase prices, which means four sub-$200,000 XJs are available. The rear seat comfort pack is now standard across the range.

The Premium Luxury grade is now also priced identically in both SWB and LWB, whether powered by the 3.0-litre turbo-diesel or new supercharged 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine.

Jaguar has slashed around $30,000 across the XK and XKR models and equalised XKR-S pricing for coupe and convertible at $299,000 – a reduction of $65,000 for the drop-top and $41,000 for the hard-top.

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