On the eve of the 2015 New York Auto Show, Jaguar gave its new XF saloon its first media outing and at the same time weighed down our inboxes with a 37-page press pack all about the new executive car that hopes to truly take the fight to the BMW 5 Series et al. Along with details of every engineering facet of this all-new model we get our first glimpse at the likely line-up.
Exterior
As we revealed how the car looked from the outside in detail last week there's no point going into that further here, other than to say that it's worth browsing through the extensive gallery opposite to see what the Prestige, R-Sport and Portfolio models look like. Ian Callum, Director of Design at Jaguar, sums it up for us: "In creating the all-new XF, as a design team we have been driven by discipline, the discipline of simplicity. Every exterior line on the XF has a clear purpose - nothing is superfluous. Achieving that simplicity takes time and requires great determination; it's all too easy to add lines to a car, but much harder to add character by leaving lines out."
Interior
We also mentioned the impressive looking new touchscreen system last week, plus the understated appearance of the new XF's cabin. Today we go one further by showing you the interior in detail in these videos. The first is a gorgeous CGI creation detailing the high points and the second is Mr Callum telling us how great he thinks it is: "Inside too, we have been driven by the desire to ensure the all-new XF's cabin is as comforting as it is comfortable. New technology, including our new 10.2-inch touchscreen, is combined carefully with materials that cosset and reassure."
Mechanicals
Although the Irish line-up has yet to be confirmed, it's likely to follow closely on from that of the UK, which initially receives the new 2.0-litre turbodiesel four-cylinder Ingenium engine in 163- and 180hp states of tune, plus a 300hp 3.0-litre V6 diesel and a single petrol engine, the supercharged 3.0-litre V6 putting out 380hp in the XF S. The Ingenium engines are available with a six-speed manual gearbox or eight-speed automatic transmission regardless of trim level and emissions are as low as 104g/km in the manual 163hp model (it does 71.7mpg on the combined cycle). That rises a mere 5g/km in the auto version and all XFs fitted with the 180hp engine emit 114g/km. The other engines only come with the automatic gearbox. Emissions for the 3.0 V6 diesel and supercharged petrol are 144- and 198g/km respectively. Here's Jaguar's video explaining how it enhanced the efficiency of the new XF.
Anything else?
Jaguar makes some bold headline grabbing claims for the XF. The entry-level version is apparently 80kg (i.e. a person) lighter than 'the competition'; thanks to a longer wheelbase, there's 'segment-leading' rear seat space; and at 104g/km, the XF has the lowest emissions of any non-hybrid in the sector. Once we have Irish pricing details we'll pass them on. In the meantime, have another video.