Jaguar XF Coupe & XF Estate back on

The Jaguar XF Coupe. Should also spawn an XF Roadster

The Jaguar XF is the car Tata can thank for the the start of the Jaguar renaissance. For the first time in a generation Jaguar were not only looking forward but could be seen to be looking forward. Gone was the reliance on the designs of the past and in came a confidently designed and executed Jaguar for the 21st century.

There’s just one thing wrong with the XF. It only comes as a soloon. It’s crying out to be expanded with a Coupe and Estate, and perhaps even a roadster. But so far Jaguar has resisted the temptation to expand the range, concentrating instead on first sorting the XK and getting the new XJ on track. And the small problem of financing the future and recovering sales.

Remarkably, in the little over two years since Tata took control of both Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford, all those objectives have been achieved. So now it’s time to move the game on, and a recent comment by JLR CEO Ralf Speth – “…the Jaguar XF shows we can compete…we need more vehicles in that family” – makes it as clear as possible that Jaguar are now ready to expand the XF range and take the fight to the Germans in a big way.

We’ve said it before and been wrong, but there’s a very good chance we’ll see the Jaguar XF Estate at Paris this year. Jaguar have privately bemoaned the lack of a 4×4 platform for the XF and cited that as one reason for the no-show of an XF Estate to date. But 4×4 or not, it seems certain we’ll get the XF Estate this year.

But the XF Estate won’t be where it ends. Very much on the cards is a Jaguar XF Coupe and even an XF Roadster. We’d hope to see at least the XF Coupe in 2011 sporting everything from the diesel S engine through to the S/C 5.0 litre lump. And perhaps even the new 4.4 litre TDV8 we expect to see in the Jaguar XJ.

Very, very appealing.

By Cars UK