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Brian Gluckman

September 3, 2008

The 2009 Jaguar XF was conceived, designed and engineered while still under Ford's corporate umbrella, but the benefits will be reaped by Jaguar's newest owner, Tata (pronounced "Ta-Da"), an Indian conglomerate with ventures ranging from chemicals to communications. Americans are already familiar with Tata as the producer of Tetley Tea, and also may have seen Tata's other new-car offering: the two-cylinder Nano, which promises to provide very basic transportation to a family of four for as little as $3,000.

The XF offers opulent luxury and resolute performance wrapped in the kind of avant-garde sheet metal that made the 1961 Jaguar E-Type an instant design icon. The ultra-modern cockpit trimmed in leather, wood and real aluminum owes much to the Motorola RAZR that served as design inspiration, with teal backlighting and a start-stop button pulsing red in imitation of a heartbeat. The XF shares its V8 engine with the XK coupe and larger XJ sedan, with a choice of a naturally aspirated 300 horsepower powerplant or a supercharged version featuring 420 horsepower.  A supercharged, 500-horsepower edition to be dubbed the XF-R will arrive during the 2009 calendar year.

All XFs come comprehensively equipped with 18-inch wheels, a 7-inch touch-screen, keyless start, and two-position memory seats for the driver.  Prices for naturally aspirated models start at $49,975 for the XF Luxury, and rise to $55,975 for the XF Premium Luxury.  The XF Supercharged starts at $62,975.


Brian Gluckman is an industry reviewer with AutoTrader.com.

This article also currently appears in the September / October 2008 issue of Business to Business magazine.

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