Jaguar will launch its new XF estate in 2012. CAR’s artist’s impression reveals how the Jag XF wagon will look – and Jaguar sources promise it will be very much a sporting station wagon.
Despite being merely a bodystyle derivative of the XF saloon, the development of the XF estate is taking some time and we won’t see it at a motor show this year.
Jaguar XF Estate (2012): why the delay?
Becuase Ford’s product planners didn’t include a wagon bodystyle from day one, Jaguar’s engineers are having to develop the XF estate from scratch.
This is making the project considerably more expensive and complex – and Jaguar will have to tool up the Castle Bromwich plant in the production breaks over holiday periods.
What will the Jaguar XF estate look like?
Our sources suggest the XF estate will be the same 4961mm length as the saloon – and the overhang will be shared too. We hear the XJ’s wraparound rear pillars will translate to the wagon, giving Jaguar’s second load lugger a more striking rump than the X-type estate’s.
However, despite the package restraints, Jaguar promises the XF estate will be as practical as the Audi A6 Avant and BMW 5-series Touring, if not quite as echoingly large as class leader the Mercedes E-class estate.
Why is Jaguar building an XF estate?
The XF is the cat’s biggest selling model, accounting for around 30,000 units a year. In the UK, the XF makes up 80% of all Jaguar sales.
The name of the game is broadening Jaguar’s product portfolio. So the 2.2 turbodiesel arriving on 1 September 2011 stretches Jag into company car heartland, while the XF estate will put the model on yet more buyers’ radar.
We expect to see the new Jaguar XF estate at a European motor show in 2012, probably Geneva or Paris. An American debut is unlikely, as wagons don’t cut it in the States.