The current Jaguar XJ is definitely showing its age, since it’s been around for almost a decade. While Jaguar hasn’t revealed any big details about the next XJ, Ian Callum, Jaguar’s head of design revealed a few details this week at the Geneva Motor Show.
Speaking to Car Advice, Callum revealed that the next XJ will be a bit bigger and also sportier than today’s model. “It’ll be different. And it will have more room inside it. One of the biggest criticisms XJ has had is that a lot of people think the room inside the car is not big enough. I don’t believe in segmentation like this — I don’t believe in an F Segment as such,” Callum stated.
Callum continued, “I think we should just do a luxury vehicle that matches people well. That’s what we’ve done for XJ, which is what the first one was all about. A lot of our market is far-eastern and people are using these big cars to be driven in, so we must accommodate that better.”
Following the release of the electric I-Pace, Jaguar is now focusing its attention on the XJ, since it will be its next release. The next XJ will also feature a lot of new technology that will eventually be filtered down to the rest of the range.
“It will definitely have new tech and it will be a flagship, and it will probably the next car we bring out now that I think about it. It’ll be built to match the technology that will be reflected at that time. But it’s not an S-Class Mercedes-Benz,” said Callum.
Even though the next XJ will match the S-Class in terms of size, Callum says that it’s not an S-Class rival, since the XJ is more of a driver’s car.
“I don’t think many Mercedes-Benz S-Classes are driver’s cars, with the exception of AMGs or something. If you drive an XJR575, it’s a driver’s car. It just happens to be able to take three people in comfort. I don’t buy this segmentation.”
Source: Car Advice