The new Jaguar XJ - update
Latest news on the progress of the new Jaguar XJ. The XJ will be with dealers in December and the first new XJ owners will get their keys in January.
- Update: 11/9/09: Jaguar are now working on the XJ ‘Limo-Green’, a hybrid XJ featuring Lotus’ Range Extender Engine.
July was all about the launch of the new Jaguar XJ everywhere you looked. Jaguar did such a long, drawn-out (although we have to confess, very successful) campaign to raise awareness of the XJ launch that Cars UK – along with most other car web sites – was inundated with readers devouring every morsel of information we could produce. Thousands watched the XJ launch live on Cars UK and even more have downloaded the XJ Wallpaper we put online. And many thousands have read the new Jaguar XJ Review we did.
But things have, inevitably, gone a bit quiet since July as Jaguar gets on with actually getting the new XJ out there, so we thought we ought to have a bit of a chat with Jaguar and get some updates.
It would seem that the big launch publicity – much of it done online – has orders and deposits in line with the hugely successful Jaguar XF launch – at least in percentage terms (the XJ is a lower volume car than the XF). Which should make Jaguar very happy.
But how is production going, and when will the public get their hands on the new XJ? Jaguar tell us that they are hoping to have dealer demonstrators in showrooms before Christmas, which is bang on target and should ramp up the orders as soon as the sceptical get to see and drive the new XJ. They are also on target to get the first customer cars handed over in January, which should make those who jumped in quick and shoved their deposits down pretty happy.
Jaguar are going to be running a press talk on the technical stuff behind the XJ’s development in October at the factory, so we’re going to pop along then so we can give you more detail. They will also be churning out a new video and update in the next couple of weeks which – now the XJ is well documented – should have more meat than some of the video teasers they handed out in the run-up to the launch.
When do we get to actually drive the new XJ? Sadly – because we’re an online Car News outlet – we’re going to have to wait until the New Year. Jaguar saw the light with the XJ launch – and ran a lot of it through car websites – but old habits die hard, so it’s going to be the old-fashioned magazines that get the first bite at the XJ’s cherry. But at least we’ll get to play in the New Year and the point will come – before very long – where purely online Car News outlets are considered to be as important as Car magazines. More important, in our view!
More new as we get it.
