Market view: why the Jaguar XJ has an uphill battle

By Glen Brooks Motor Industry 10 July 2009 16:11 It’s a sobering thought for Jaguar management that no matter how good the new 2010 XJ is, it’s never going to be a big seller. The global market for large executive saloons was in decline long before the Great Recession appeared, the buyers in this segment increasingly tempted by models as diverse as the BMW X6, Infiniti FX, Cadillac Escalade or Mercedes GL-Class crossovers and SUVs. The generation that was chauffeured in an S-class or XJ is retiring, with the owner-drivers who succeed them soon to be preferring a Porsche Panamera, Aston Martin Rapide or Audi A7.

Ford Escort returns – for China: Shanghai Motor Show

The Ford Escort Concept has been built by Ford with the aim of taking a sizeable chunk of China’s compact saloon market – estimated at 5.5 million sales a year – and looks remarkably production viable and far from ‘budget’. Escort is a badge China knows – there are plenty of old Escorts floating around Chinese roads – so it’s a sensible move by Ford to revive a badge that already resonates as a compact, affordable saloon with Chinese car buyers. This new Escort gets a proper version of Ford’s latest design language – including the Aston Martin grill – and has good lines and strong detail including jeweled headlights with the lucky Chinese ’8′ discernible ; it looks entirely cohesive and nothing like a Focus with a boot grafted on.

Radical new group-based car insurance scheme

REX Innovation and car insurance aren’t entirely strange bedfellows. After all, the concept of ‘black box’ insurance that uses a device to monitor you as you drive has taken off so fast it could well become mandatory in the future. But it’s still unusual to come across something truly revolutionary.