Jag flagship gets a lift

JAGUAR chose Geneva to unveil the facelifted and realigned 2008 XJ sedan range due on sale here by the final quarter of 2007, with the Ford luxury brand's British-built all-aluminium luxury limousine flagship coming in for mostly cosmetic and equipment upgrades.

There are no changes to the current XJ's 2.7-litre twin-turbo diesel V6, 3.0-litre petrol V6, and naturally-aspirated and supercharged 4.2-litre V8 engines (found in the XJ TDVi, XJ6, XJ8 and XJR respectively).

Instead, for the crudely named 08MY XJ, there's a new Jaguar Growler badge, a new front bumper with revised upper and lower mesh grilles, XK-style side power vents, different lower body sills, a subtle rear decklid spoiler and new door mirrors with integrated indicators.

Equipment upgrades include new heated front seats with "more comfort and support" as standard across the board, revised rear seat to improve legroom, updated Bluetooth connectivity (for up to five approved mobile phones), six new paint colours and upgraded alloy wheels for what will be a simplified line-up comprising four trim levels in the UK.

The entry-level XJ Executive (2.7 and 3.0) gets 19-inch 10-spoke Carelia wheels from the XK and a heated windscreen, while diesel-only XJ Sport Premium adds 'R' seats with leather seat facings, aluminium veneer, satellite-navigation, black side window surrounds and 20-inch Cremona wheels.

Executive-based XJ Sovereign variants (2.7, 3.0 and 4.2) add 16-way electric front seat adjustment, soft-grain leather, satellite-navigation, bi-Xenon headlights and a new five-spoke 19-inch Polaris wheel.

For 2008, the range-topping XJR gets aluminium-look power vents, an R-badged gearshufter, black brake callipers and front seat cooling as well as heating. The TDVi V6 will also become available in the long-wheelbase XJ in the UK, where only modest price rises have been announced.

"XJ sales results in 2006 showed a 25 per cent increase versus 2005 and with these specification enhancements, our customers can benefit from an even better value-for-money proposition," said Jaguar UK managing director, Geoff Cousins.

Jaguar also used the major Swiss show to stage the European debut of its lithe new C-XF concept, which made its global debut at Detroit in January and previews a new design language for future Jaguar sports sedans – including the next-generation S-Type.

Read more: Jaguar concept leaps ahead of the pack