Geneva 2012: Jaguar XF Sportbrake Cleanses Our Retinas

Derek Kreindler
by Derek Kreindler

Just when it seemed like the Geneva Auto Show was going to be the automotive equivalent of a Christian Audigier trade show, Jaguar comes out with the XF Sportbrake, something that looks good and has a practical use.

The term shooting brake was derived from the vehicles that transported the English Gentry and their hunting parties. They were luxurious, had interiors that matched their tweed outfits and could carry powerful shotguns. Over time, the definition has evolved, but sticking with the original helps me feel better about wearing a Barbour coat.

First of all, we will not be getting the Sportbrake in North America. The combination of a lack of gasoline engine choices and not having the appropriate federalization carried out means that Roman Polanski will return to America before the XF Sportbrake makes it over here. With a choice of Jaguar’s new 2.2L or 3.0L diesel engines and an 8-speed automatic, the XF should be able to offer more than adequate performance while eschewing Jaguar’s lovely but thirsty V8 mills.




Derek Kreindler
Derek Kreindler

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  • Jerseydevil Jerseydevil on Mar 06, 2012

    stunning. absolutely stunning. figures we cant get one.

  • Niky Niky on Mar 07, 2012

    Roman Polanski's going back? Would you know the flight number and date? I could use the reward money. - It's a wagon, it's a diesel and it's fast. Best of all worlds. Which means it won't ever sell in America. I love it. Doesn't look any less sexy than the sedan, which, with the turbodiesel six, is about all the car you'll ever need. Drove one on the racetrack two years ago and fell in love. Astounding brakes, good handling and nice grunt (we ticked off 0-62 in around seven seconds). The addition of more rear headroom and a place for the dog to sit in back makes it perfect.

  • Kjhkjlhkjhkljh kljhjkhjklhkjh A prelude is a bad idea. There is already Acura with all the weird sport trims. This will not make back it's R&D money.
  • Analoggrotto I don't see a red car here, how blazing stupid are you people?
  • Redapple2 Love the wheels
  • Redapple2 Good luck to them. They used to make great cars. 510. 240Z, Sentra SE-R. Maxima. Frontier.
  • Joe65688619 Under Ghosn they went through the same short-term bottom-line thinking that GM did in the 80s/90s, and they have not recovered say, to their heyday in the 50s and 60s in terms of market share and innovation. Poor design decisions (a CVT in their front-wheel drive "4-Door Sports Car", model overlap in a poorly performing segment (they never needed the Altima AND the Maxima...what they needed was one vehicle with different drivetrain, including hybrid, to compete with the Accord/Camry, and decontenting their vehicles: My 2012 QX56 (I know, not a Nissan, but the same holds for the Armada) had power rear windows in the cargo area that could vent, a glass hatch on the back door that could be opened separate from the whole liftgate (in such a tall vehicle, kinda essential if you have it in a garage and want to load the trunk without having to open the garage door to make room for the lift gate), a nice driver's side folding armrest, and a few other quality-of-life details absent from my 2018 QX80. In a competitive market this attention to detai is can be the differentiator that sell cars. Now they are caught in the middle of the market, competing more with Hyundai and Kia and selling discounted vehicles near the same price points, but losing money on them. They invested also invested a lot in niche platforms. The Leaf was one of the first full EVs, but never really evolved. They misjudged the market - luxury EVs are selling, small budget models not so much. Variable compression engines offering little in terms of real-world power or tech, let a lot of complexity that is leading to higher failure rates. Aside from the Z and GT-R (low volume models), not much forced induction (whether your a fan or not, look at what Honda did with the CR-V and Acura RDX - same chassis, slap a turbo on it, make it nicer inside, and now you can sell it as a semi-premium brand with higher markup). That said, I do believe they retain the technical and engineering capability to do far better. About time management realized they need to make smarter investments and understand their markets better.
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