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Jaguar offers sneak peek at new flagship XJ sedan

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DETROIT, Sept 14 Reuters reported that car talk sounds almost salacious when you hear people at Jaguar, the British maker of some of the world's sexiest things with doors, rave about their redesigned flagship XJ sedan.

The luxury vehicle, which is to make its public debut at the Paris Motor Show later this month, is "longer, taller and wider" than its predecessor, according to Jaguar.

But it is also about 440 pounds lighter and much "stiffer" than the outgoing model, thanks to an aluminum body that provides "new levels of strength, robustness and dynamic ability," Jaguar officials said.

Stiff or more rigid vehicle bodies improve handling and help cut down on noise.

Automotive journalists got to take a look at a pre-production model of the all-new 2004 XJ four-door sedan on Thursday at a Jaguar dealership outside Detroit.

The British racing green version of the car, flown in from England to let the board of directors at Ford Motor Co. examine it, was an imposing, broad-shouldered machine on enormous 19-inch wheels, touted as "a work of art" by Jaguar design director Ian Callum.

With its 4.2 liter V8, supercharged or naturally aspirated versions of the engine on the racy Jaguar S-Type, the XJ is expected to crank out up to 390 horsepower through its six-speed automatic transmission.

"We worked very hard to get the craftsmanship of this car perfect," Callum told reporters. "The technology and structure of this car is very, very impressive."

As Jaguar's parent company, Ford is surely banking on a successful launch of the new XJ, which will go into production this winter and starting selling in the United States as a 2004 model in the second quarter of next year.

Ford, in fact, is counting on Jaguar and the rest of its Premier Automotive Group -- Land Rover, Volvo and Aston Martin -- to account for about one-third of its profits by 2005, up from what some analysts estimate to be only about 15 percent today.

Ford, which has been credited with reviving an ailing Jaguar after buying it for $2.4 billion in 1989, set the revenue target as part of an ambitious turnaround plan after losing $5.45 billion last year.

Jaguar and Land Rover have been the fastest growing brands of any automaker in the United States so far this year, with sales up about 63 percent through August. That growth has been partly fueled by incentives, however, and the recent introductions of low-end luxury segment vehicles like the Jaguar X-Type and Land Rover Freelander.

JAGUAR'S CORNERSTONE

Jaguar spokesman Simon Sproule said worldwide sales of the outgoing XJ have ranged between 20,000 and 25,000 a year, with more than 10,000 of the cars, which have a base price of more than $56,000, selling in the U.S. market last year.

"Obviously we hope we're going to sell more with a new car," Sproule told Reuters.

The first XJ made its debut in 1968 and Sproule said "for Jaguar it's our cornerstone."

It remains to be seen how the new model, the first car from Ford to use a high-tech aluminum body, will be received. Jaguar has won high marks lately in J.D. Power's benchmark surveys of customer satisfaction and initial quality. But any flaws in the new XJ could hurt sales and a hard-won reputation for solid workmanship.

Given Jaguar's reputation for timeless design, the new XJ boasts only a few minor style changes, at least from the outside. Its wheelbase is more than six inches longer than its predecessor, but it bulks up only a few inches in width, height and length.

"It's a bit meaner looking than today's car," said Callum. "It looks more purposeful."

The bottom line, however, is that it looks very much like the older car and that might disappoint some automotive enthusiasts.

"It's a retrograde step from a design standpoint," said one industry observer, who asked not to be quoted by name. "It doesn't look like the next generation XJ, it looks like a frumpier version of the current car," he said.

"Jag has a tremendous heritage of making absolutely incredibly sexy cars and this thing has to fulfill that, and I'm not sure it's going to," he said.
 

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