Cars

Where's the X-Factor? Low-key Jaguar outgunned by Germans

Jaguar's underpromoted and strangely underwhelming XF saloon. It looks quite nice in this picture, though...
Jaguar's underpromoted and strangely underwhelming XF saloon. It looks quite nice in this picture, though... Jaguar's underpromoted and strangely underwhelming XF saloon. It looks quite nice in this picture, though...

A curious mixture of low-key promotion and marketing allied to same-again styling means Northern Ireland car buyers and the more casual observer may have missed the news that Jaguar recently launched a new version of its XF model, writes William Scholes.

The XF, in case you aren't up to speed with Jaguar's nomenclature, is the car the company would like you to buy instead of a BMW 5 Series, Audi A6 or Mercedes-Benz E-Class - or, as is more likely the case with executive saloons of this sort, direct your business car allowance towards.

You may be surprised to learn that Jaguar also has a smaller saloon, named the XE, which faces similarly formidable opposition from the BMW 3 Series, Audi A4 and Mercedes-Benz C-Class.

But before we get to the car itself, a bit of scene-setting.

Persuading people weaned on the German cars to jump ship to a Jaguar is a big ask. Each of the rivals already mentioned is nothing short of excellent.

To put the magnitude of the challenge in some sort of context, Jaguar last year enjoyed a bumper year with 34,822 registrations recorded in the UK. This was up a whopping 45 per cent on 2015's 23,954 registrations.

However, to take Mercedes-Benz as an example, it shifted more examples of a single model - the C-Class, with 44,184 registered - than Jaguar did of its entire range in 2016. And each of Mercedes-Benz (169,828 UK registrations), BMW (182,593) and Audi (177,304) comfortably sold around five times - five times - as many cars as Jaguar in 2016. Even Volvo sold 46,696.

The 'push to premium' trend should be in Jaguar's favour and it now, finally, has an SUV, the F-Pace, with which to tempt customers. But then again, Audi, BMW and Mercedes have multiple SUVs in their line-ups. They have also long benefited from the rising tide of growing demand for upmarket nameplates.

Brand image is hyper-important in this sector and here Jaguar still has a lot of work to do. A Jaguar saloon still, it has to be said, has the air of a car for, shall we say, the older gentleman.

Driving into this unpromising scenario is the under-promoted Jaguar XF.

My time with the car coincided with a family wedding. This provided a great opportunity to get the opinions of a large group of punters, many of whom already drive various Audi, Mercedes and BMW models - the sort of 'conquest' customer that Jaguar should be aiming for, in other words, an open goal of doctors, lawyers, bank managers and company senior managers.

It wasn't, it has to be said, a great weekend for the Jaguar.

Typical comments were along the lines of: "What, that's a new Jag? It looks like the old one. I'll have another 5 Series, thanks very much. Or that new Mercedes E-Class looks rather swish..."

The test car was in R-Sport trim, Jaguar's version of the M Sport and S line versions that have proved so popular for BMW and Audi, but the styling enhancements are so subtle as to be almost invisible, to the chagrin of the wedding focus group.

And compared to the Germans, the Jaguar's interior feels a bit last generation. The infotainment system is a big improvement on that found in the last XF, but it still lags Audi and BMW in particular.

The absence of a rear-view camera on a £36k car (£41k as tested - see At A Glance) raised eyebrows, though not as much as the lack of lumbar support on the front seats.

Compared to the whizz-bang tech and high-end fit-and-finish found aboard an Audi, BMW or Mercedes, the Jaguar simply felt outgunned.

The pop-up gear selector and rotating air vents gained kudos, though, but nobody particularly cared for the fact that its body is made from lots of aluminium.

I ended up feeling a little sorry for the Jaguar because of the hard time it was getting.

"But it drives beautifully," I protested, for few cars flow along an Irish country road with the same comfort, poise and precision.

The XF's ride and handling balance is uncannily good, in fact - and its stand-out attribute as far as I am concerned - but a BMW 5 Series isn't exactly shabby in that department either.

Plus, the Jaguar's engine - a gruff 161bhp diesel unit in the test car - is definitely not 'premium'. In this particular application, it's not even close to the easy smoothness of a comparable unit from BMW, Audi, Volvo or Mazda.

It's hampered further by an automatic gearbox that does a decent impersonation of changing gear in another car on a different road. The remedy is to switch the car into 'sport' mode or change gear yourself. But, really, everyone else seems to be able to manage to program their gearboxes without this sort of hassle. Left in the default 'drive' mode, it is dreadfully ponderous away from a standstill - a bit of a problem when pulling out of junctions or on to a roundabout...

This engine and gearbox combo make the car feel very s-l-o-w, as if the car were being deliberately and defiantly non-sporty.

More powerful diesel and petrol engines are available, and on the evidence of this 163PS car they would seem to be well worth the extra money.

An XE reviewed previously on these pages was similarly unconvincing in the engine/gearbox department, though oddly a Discovery Sport from sister company Land Rover with the same arrangement was much smoother and cohesive - go figure...

The XF shines brightest on a flowing road, and it is a shame that it hides its dynamic lights under the bushels of a lacklustre exterior and a drab interior.

The gearbox and engine combination afflicting this particular test car didn't help matters either.

Perhaps it says more about the class in which it competes and the general excellence of its key rivals that, sparkling chassis aside, the XF seems so, well, average. Further narrowing the XF's appeal is the absence of hybrid and estate versions.

Other Jaguar models are superb - the big XJ is a fabulous car and the F-Type sports car is wonderful.

Objectively and in isolation the XF is a fine car, and I really wanted to like it more than I did. It's just that its rivals are better, and in that context it is underwhelming.

And those rivals also realise they still need to tell people about their cars. That is why BMW and its dealers are heavily promoting and advertising their new - and excellent - 5 Series, and why we will continue to see more of them on our roads than we do Jaguar XFs.

AT A GLANCE:

Jaguar XF R-Sport 2.0-litre diesel 163PS

Price: £35,950 As tested: £41,285. Options included: metallic paint £690, upgraded infotainment £1,745, spare wheel £185, heated and electric folding mirrors £360, illuminated treadplates £310, 40/20/40 split-folding rear seats £430, cold climate pack with heated seats, windscreen and steering wheel, £745, power convenience pack with keyless entry and powered bootlid £870

Engine and transmission: 2.0-litre four-cylinder diesel turbo, eight-speed automatic gearbox, rear-wheel-drive; 161bhp, 280lb.ft

Performance: Top speed 132mph, 0-60mph in 8.2 seconds

Fuel consumption: 68.9mpg (EU combined); 38.7mpg (real world)

CO2, road tax, benefit in kind: 109g/km - not liable in first year, then £20 annually - 21 per cent

Euro Ncap safety rating: Five stars (92/84/80/83), 2015