News : Entry-level XF arrives from under £30K

Latest XF packs 160bhp for £30,000
Latest XF packs 160bhp for £30,000

A new 160bhp version of the Jaguar XF powered by a 2.2-litre, four-cylinder diesel engine, is about to hit the market, and set a new entry-level price point at £30K. Developed from the existing 187bhp model, which recently crossed the United States averaging 62.9mpg, the new, lower output derivative of the 2.2-litre engine puts out a mere 149g/km and the combined consumption is 52.3mpg.

Despite the lower starting price the new model features an extensive range of standard equipment including suedecloth and leather seats, a touch screen centrally mounted display, electronic climate control and an advanced eight-speed gearbox complete with automatic Stop-Start.

The 160bhp XF 2.2D is capable of accelerating from a standstill to 60mph in 9.5 seconds before reaching a maximum speed of 130 mph.  Jaguar dealers are taking orders for the new car now ahead of the first deliveries taking place in March.

Keith Adams
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54 Comments

  1. Very, very nice! I’m looking forward to seeing what the estate looks like when it comes out and I’m really looking forward to going and seeing these being built as Castle Bromwich on the 24th!

    Remind me, with cars like this around, why is the 5 Series such a success?!

  2. Who cares – just look at the thing! Got to be the best looking exec saloon on the roads at the moment……

  3. I think above all this demonstrates how far diesels have moved on, many say you have to go manual to get the best economy, well this disproves that theory completely!

    That price needs to be more fluid though, I have heard that BMW offer the 5 Series ED model at around £25k for company car drivers.

  4. The 5 series is all about badge snobbery. the Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagggg still has a bit of a crummy image compared to the Nazi staff cars, even though nowadays, the Coventry cats are probably better screwed together than anything from the Bavarians.

    • Totally agree, I work in the trade and nearly every day I see BMWs and VAG products (not so much MBs, they seem better than the other German set) literally falling to bits. From the 4 year old E90 (3 series) with 60k miles that creak and groan, worn leather, several electrical issues, writing wearing off buttons etc, to the 6 week old VW Polo that have swimming pools in each light cluster! At least Jags have an honest, reliable image, and you know that everything WILL still work in 10 years time!

  5. BMW efficient dynamics is THE standard when it comes to emmissions nonsense though. I really like this cheaper XF though. Makes sense what with their being no X type and Audi giving away A6’s. Bit of a missed opportunity on the emmissions though. The 5 series might be ugly as sin but nothing can touch it for efficiency. The wife’s 320ed continues to amaze with it’s blend of effortless performance and 64mpg in the real world. Just need JLR to hop on that efficency band wagon now.

  6. I’m just waiting for my C3’s PCP to be finished, then it’ll be a Jaguar on my drive. I wonder how many BMW/Audi contract hire people who got cars last year are thinking the same thing…

  7. The lack of cheap diesels has been hurting Jaguar sales in the UK and Europe, which is reflected in their disappointing sales in these markets (offset by sales to the super rich of Russia and China) when compared to the super efficient German competition, but this is a real contender now.

    Don’t like the colour though!

  8. Nice car, better price structure and I wish it well in attracting more new Jaguar buyers. Still I look forward to an (eventual?)replacement for the X Type also.

  9. I do not want leather in a car. Therefore any Jaguar or Range Rover is off my company car list. Now one cannot have cloth on a 5 series. What is going on with insiting on putting cow skins in upmarket rep-mobiles?

  10. because the majority of the buying public expect Leather in a prestige car.

    Manufacturers may well lose your purchase Merlin, but i doubt they’ll lose much sleep over it as there are far more people that prefer leather than don’t.

  11. I don’t know about other markets than Germany, but my impression is, that the “New Jaguar” is not catching on particular well – the XF and XJ are very rare cars I hardly ever see on the road, be it Germany, Belgium, Netherlands or France. Jaguar still seems to be a car mostly bought by enthousiasts – about 3400 or so sold here in Germany last year, quite a bad performance. The new base model will not change this I suppose.

  12. >>>What is going on with insiting on putting cow skins in upmarket rep-mobiles?

    Because:
    i) most people think leather is better. They are wrong
    ii) it is wipe clean. Can you imagine trying to clean baby sick from a cream velour/wool, when compare to a black leather?

    I agree and hate the trend for car to have horrid cheap leather. Either an expensive and top class leather, like autolux, or a cloth. Nothing in between please!

    Is the leather problem worse than having stupid oversized wheels? Maybe not.

  13. very nice car, so be brave all you boring and save audi, bmw and mercedes drivers and try this for instance…

    and be surprised!!!

  14. “I agree and hate the trend for car to have horrid cheap leather. Either an expensive and top class leather, like autolux, or a cloth. Nothing in between please!”

    I’m with you there, Low quality leather is little better than low quality cloth.

  15. Well done Jag for moving with the times, but is it me or do the performance figures seem a bit…weedy for a Jag?
    In regard to leather, while I’m a leather fan, one of the down sides are-black leather on a hot day, after a car as been parked in the sun-OWCH.
    And cold leather takes ages to warm up unless you’re lucky enough to have heated seats.
    Sadly if you don’t like leather in your luxo barge, tough, I’m afraid these days. Cloth seated Bimmers and the like will depreciate much quicker than their peeled cow equipped brethren.
    I didn’t know the 5 series now only comes with leather now.

  16. I would LOVE to buy an XF but can’t because Jaguar won’t make a manual transmission version.

    I hate automatics of any make

  17. How do they sell 5 serieseses then to Vegetarians, Vegans and those whose culture / religion forbids Leather products?

  18. @ Will M. Good point. Unless they alter the car’s spec sheet, they won’t be able to sell the 5 serizzzz in India.
    Even if they do, if you’re a Hindu living in the UK then you’ll cross the 5 off your short list. How many sales is that they’ve lost?
    That’s a very good point, one that BMW probably didn’t think off.

  19. >> Unless they alter the car’s spec sheet, they won’t be able to sell the 5 serizzzz in India.

    Could be that BMW put cloth in cars for other non-EU markets. I seem to recall Jags have odour-free leather as the smell of leather is considered underiable by the Japanese.

    The queen in the back of her big new Bentley has cloth.

  20. “In regard to leather, while I’m a leather fan, one of the down sides are-black leather on a hot day, after a car as been parked in the sun-OWCH.”

    agreed, pale coloured leather isn’t nearly as bad though.

    “I seem to recall Jags have odour-free leather as the smell of leather is considered underiable by the Japanese”

    modern tanning process has little smell anyway, so some manufacturers put a sachet of leather fragrance stuff under the seat somewhere for certain markets.

    “The queen in the back of her big new Bentley has cloth.”
    Indeed, although that ‘was’ custom built. One doesn’t want one’s back perspiring with-in that large glass dome. Can’t really see any manufacturer selling a saloon with leather front seats and cloth back seats though. :p

    “Could be that BMW put cloth in cars for other non-EU markets.”

    I think that’s probably the case, where there is a demand for it they’re going to do it aren’t they. Where there isn’t a demand they wont bother, building maybe one random UK spec car with cloth seats is going to cost more, much the same as building one random UK spec car with a pink paint job. It can’t be done on the normal production line so has to be done by hand elsewhere. If however they are making 2000 indian spec cars with cloth seats then economies of scale come into play.

    • The German stuff may APPEAR to be better built but they aren’t. German cars are designed to convey the image of quality superficially, but it is only when you live with them you realise they can be seriously shonky indeed. I have have too many bad experiences with German products in general to ever want one again…

  21. @Dolomite fan:

    I’m not surprised the BMW 3 Series offers superior fuel economy to the Jaguar XF, as it is a compact executive contender, not in the executive class sector. Therefore it will be smaller and probably lighter than the XF, so better economy will be experienced.

    This is the sort of convincing entry model that Coventry needs right now and it will probably sell well on the continent too. All in all, the new addition will help increase sales of new Jaguars and in turn help increase profits for Jaguar Land Rover at the same time.

  22. It’s all very well trumpetting it’s 30k ticket…..

    It’s monthly repayments and taxation that REALLY drive business leases though.

    So, what’ll the repayments be? Mercs are traditionally very cheap for what you get as they hold allot more value when sold on.

    What’s the Jags resale like? Because if it takes a dive it’ll cost more to lease, so you’ll see less parked up at offices, which’ll drive the used prices even lower.. Ho Hum, Catch 22… you can see why companies let cars go very cheaply to lease companies.. Helps massively to get the car seen on the road (Yes, I’m looking at you Vauxhall Antara).

  23. “But dont delude yourselves that its better than a BMW/Audi/Merc. It isnt.”

    Oh yes it is, far better than the drug dealer cars listed above. Never seen a Jag with chromed wheel arches and blue’d head lights.

  24. Our local Jag dealer is so confident they offer test drives back to back with BMW / Audi / Merc. One thing Jag has that they don’t…..class !

  25. Dr Bobby Love,

    I deal with a contract hire cars at work and lease rates are a combination of residuals, along with service costs, tyre costs and manufacturer support. Consequently, there can be some surprises amongst lease costs.

    Infuriatingly, I can’t get a like for like quote on line between an XF and a 5 Series (purely in terms of lease length), but a 520ed (efficient dynamics) will be £439.00 per month for a 3 year deal with 10,000 miles a year, whilst a XF 2.2D will be £359.99 per month for the same mileage over 4 years. I would suggest that, at those rates, the XF would be cheaper over 3 years.

  26. I have an E60 530i. I know it’s not the current model but it was ouit when XF was launched.

    It is, essentially, bloody awful; interior of a late ’90s Fiesta. Steering feel and accuracy almost non-existent and many notable downgrades from the E39 (interior boot release gone, temp. gauge gone, glovebox torch gone, dual heater controls gone).

    When I’ve got a few little jobs on it done, it’ll be up for sale.

    • I’ve seen plenty of terrible modern BMWs as far as reliablity and quality goes, they are serious moneypits… avoid like the plague (avoid anything German come to that)

  27. Lovely cars BMWs/Audis/Mercs. But dont delude yourselves that they are better than the Jaguar. They’re not.

  28. 36:
     
    I took out a new model 520d touring when I was choosing my new company car around 10 months ago and I really couldn’t see what all the fuss was about! I certainly find it hard to believe that I could actually buy a 2.2D XF for the price of a 520d.
    I know that the XF isn’t built in China, but it’s great to see it getting a positive mention on this website anyway 🙂
     

  29. Only one more day until going to visit the Jaguar factory at Castle Bromwich. I particularly hope that we’ll see the XF being built.

  30. Actually many high end limos have cloth in the back, the driver gets leather. By high end limos I mean the true coach built ones, like Rolls Royce, Daimler, Packard and Mercedes used to do between the wars. Although a fair few have now been ‘restored’ with leather throught. Many post war Phantom IV (available to heads of state only!) Phantom V and VI were also like this, I have no idea about the current Fake Phantom

  31. Wow, what a day and well worth the 500 mile round trip!

    To mention just the high lights, the Castle Bromwich factory has an interesting history as it was where Spitfires were produced during World War II. It is now the centre for production for the XF, XJ and XK.

    The highlight of the day had to be seeing (in a lot of detail) the build up of the all aluminium XJ, from individual pressings to a complete shell, almost entirely by bonding and high tech rivets! Absolutely fascinating!!

    We then saw the engines arriving from Bridgend and Dagenham and then built up with gearboxes and associated drivetrain gubbins and married to the XF bodyshell. After that, we followed the XF down the production line, through every stage, until it drove off the end of the line.

    For around 2 hours, just 4 of us had the undivided attention of a very helpful factory guide. We even managed to see something that we shouldn’t have, before it was hurriedly covered and taken away!

    Forget 40 guys in a shed uncrating virtually complete cars from the far East; I have the contact details to arrange a factory visit for anyone who would genuinely like to see what a proper UK based car manufacturing facility looks like in real life.

    Let me know if you’re interested….

  32. What I struggle to understand is that Jaguar Land Rover cover 5 sites in the UK (Whitley, Browns Lane, Castle Bromwich, Halewood and Gaydon), employ around 5,000 British workers in R&D and a further 4,650 Brits in manufacturing, they were once a significant part of BL (substantially more significant than MG ever was) and completely dwarf the 200 ish R&D staff and 40 in unpacking and final assembly at the Longbridge operation of SAIC, yet this site is dominated by stories about SAIC / MG…
    With a few worthy exceptions, many contributors thrive on the highly unlikely prospect of MG ever becoming a significant UK manufacturer once again, yet largely ignore some of manufacturing jewels that we already have.
    On that basis, I can’t recommend a visit to the Jaguar plant, as it’s unlikely to interest the majority of the readership of aronline. 
    Thanks for some good conversations here over the last few months, but I don’t want to be part of something that appears to have been overwhelmed with the need to fill the vacuum left my the inadequacy of SAIC/MG’s own PR machine.
    Good bye and good luck.
     
     
     
     
     

  33. In a sense I hope Jaguars continue to be a rarity on the roads, because I don’t want every other bugger driving them, getting in on the best kept secret in high end cars. Let them eat deathly dull, crushingly average German euroboxes that show a paucity of imagination and even less good taste…

    On the other hand I’d rather JLR didn’t go bankrupt, so I suppose some ‘switchers’ from Jaguar’s pale imitators must be put up with!

  34. …and by the way – love the hue!

    Just driven 200 miles today, and every second car on the M1 was a charcoal grey Beemer or Audi – a depressing comment on the colourblind new car buying masses.

    Would someone please explain why it’s supposed to be cool to drive something painted in the same shade as the feeder road to Didcot power station?

  35. I think that’s just changing fashions, but I drive a Panther Black Mondeo – would’ve preferred Tonic Blue, but that was almost impossible to find in V6 Titanium X flavour as they’re nearly all filthy diesels.

    You can see that deep brown metallic is making a comeback and I think that’s great. One of my favourite cars was a 1972 Cortina XL in Tawny Metallic!

    This Jaguar looks lovely and infinitely more interesting than the generic A6/ 5 Series dross. Performance figures do seem a bit underwhelming, but I suppose it’s a big beast to haul along.

  36. @ David – I was only allowed to order my BMW in a “business colour”. So charcoal (Mineral) Grey it was.

    Very few sub 3 year old BMWs, Mercedes or Audis on British roads are privately owned.

  37. Bosch fuel injection, ZF transmission and chassis components and Siemens Electronics – Yes, much better than anything the Germans can offer.

  38. ………..In fact of the one I recently drove was anything to go by, the only things British about it are the shiny slip on shoe grey leather seats, formica wood trim and sinclair spectrum navigation touch screen. That plus the fact that it is now a six year old design with no replacement on the horizon.

  39. The Jag has one thing the Germans don’t:- durability All German cars I’ve owned have fallen to bit before they’ve reached 100k miles and always been into the dealer getting one thing after another fixed. THey may have impressive dynamics and have good fit and finish, but the actual quality of the materials themselves is appalling

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