SPIED: Jaguar's FLAGSHIP Getting Updated — Will It Be Able To Go Toe-To-Toe With The S-Class?

The Jaguar XJ is Callum's greatest FAILURE. It needed to be a sales star and the opposite is true. Styling it to look like a Merkur Scorpio hatchback with a big hole in the grill did nothing for sales which are HORRIBLE. The XJ is outsold by the S Class and the BMW 7 by a factor of 5-7 times given the year. The Huyndai Equus sells almost as well!! The car desperately needs to return to being a real sedan and Callum needs to be FIRED.

I think you need to compare XJ sales to XJ sales from last gen.

Yea, it appears to be an S Class world right now...rivals must bring their A Plus game to even be considered a player in it. The Jag's refresh won't do much in terms of sales

They need to ditch the faux-hatchback / fastback look and instead re-style the rear to have a proper "C" pillar that tapers to a distinct trunk.

Its a cool-looking car but buyers don't care - its just too "out-there" for its customer base.

Agreed 10,000%. When we previewed the current XJ to our customers, they found it to be "ugly" and they thought the black plastic faux window wrap around at the rear was "tacky" and I have to agree. They are also botching the roll out of the F Type rather badly. We could sell every base F Type we could get our hands on, but our allotment is largely fully loaded models in the pipeline. People love the F Type for its sub $70K base but not so much when the reality of buying one is more like $100K or more. The Corvette is better for less money and the 911 is better for the same money.

LOL, no way. It can't even compete with the 7 or A8.

@Agent00R maybe YOU should look up the facts. Jaguar XJ sales are as follows for the USA. The new model brought NO APPRECIABLE difference when compared to the previous one. In fact, the previous one actually sold better.

2013 / 5434
2012 / 4852
2011 / 5235
2010 / 4278
2009 / 1161 CURRENT XJ WAS INTRODUCED
2008 / 2452
2007 / 4474
2006 / 5027
2005 / 8304
2004 / 10552
2003 / 10102
2002 / 8282

Because sales of Jaguars are so dismal, we are looking to unload our interest in the Jag dealer where in.

Notice the steep fall off from '05 to '09? Yeah. It's doing better than that, which was the last-gen car.

Jaguar has stated multiple times it's happy remaining a low volume manufacturer. So, considering it's sales were "normalized" for '10 to '13, that's success in their book.

Welcome to the new economy.

Yes it is clear that the XJ best sales years were between 2002-2005.2006 to 2008 were not so hot. The replacement car has not achieved the better sales of the previous version but it sales seem to be more steady an consistant. Before Tata took it over Jaguar was a dying company.However I think with the new F Type(including the Coupe now)and the upcoming XE I think Jaguar will have a toe hold in the luxury and near luxury market.As for the top of the line loaded F Types please note the following.Porsche is known for it's "alacart" pricing. A base Cayman with reasonable options can be 75 to 90 Grand. A Cayman S can be over 100 Grand. A 911 in the same scenario would be $120,000 to $130,000. I'll admit the new Corvette is a great deal but the F Type R
I think is a match for it as well as the 911.I also agree that the interior of the XJ has to be redone.(not enough wood in my opinion-Even compared to the new C class Mercedes). Saying all this Jaguar is becoming a luxury player. The next XJ will be more traditional looking as will the XF. The difference is they are still more of a drivers car than Audi, BMW, and Mercedes. I'm a little tired of the German's. Other than the the 4 series and new 2 series nothing BMW makes is pleasing stylistically.Ditto now for Audi(with S 7 and RS5 coupe excepted) Mercedes has certainly come up in terms of classy styling both inside and out now. I think Jaguar needs to strive for that but keep it's handling advantage.

@Agent00R staying a low volume brand has no business case. Quite simply Jaguar cannot remain in business without radically better sales and I can tell you they have currently a quiet mutiny among dealers.

If their margins are greater per product I am sure they could care less about their dealer network, which will sort itself out eventually.

Always appreciate the insight, MattD.