just wait until they go 'retro' on future model years, then you can get back in. I think the new design was drastic, the 2010 was the last MY that actually looks like a traditional jaguar with the four lights and split grill...though I think the 2004-2007 front end is even better looking and more traditional.

However, if you've ever sat in a 2011 XJ...its interior is simply dreamy! What I wouldn't give for that setup in a 2007!

 

I think the majority of us who own the new XL are new to the brand - I know I am. While I can't speak for others, the only reason I purchased a jaguar is because the new XJ is not like the previous generations. I don't necessarily consider myself old (yet) and am in my early 40's but I've been fortunate enough that I've owned more than 60 new cars in my lifetime and I can say that at no point did I ever even briefly consider buying a jaguar until now. Even the XK and XF, while different from previous generations, do not appeal to me.

I like the direction that Jaguar is heading and if the cx-16 ends up looking like the concept model, I'll be at the front of the line to pick one up too. When Bertone showed their concept earlier, I know a lot of people thought that the XJ should have been like the Bertone, but frankly if it had, I would have continued to spend my money with other brands.

Just my two cents...

 

I'm 34 years old, and never gave the old XJ a second look. I recently purchased an XJL; the new design is certainly a total departure from the old looks, but it seems to be effective at getting some younger folks interested in the brand. I never even considered a Jag when I bought my CLS (before the XJ/XF were released).

After I saw the XF I started to look. And when the XJ was released, that was the end of the CLS for me; I like the look of the XJ better, and its so much nicer and roomier inside.

Jags old owners (don't take this the wrong way) are "aging out" of high end luxury cars. They needed to lower their average buyer age, and the XJ and XF seem (at least in my sample size of 1) to have been very effective.

 

The bottom line is that the old style XJ (and I have owned 3 of them over the years) was not selling well. I don't think it's so much of a buyer's age thing, but that the design was just worn out and needed a fresh new direction. Something had to be done for Jaguar's survival similar to what Cadillac went through a few years back. I applaud Jaguar for this "drastic" redesign--it was a heck of a gamble, but was necessary and is paying off. Most of the car critics have given it an enthusiastic thumbs up, I'm sure much to the chagrin of the old school die hards that were apparently willing to go down in flames with the brand.

This is the new face of Jaguar--get used to it.

 

Sales are up so it looks like more people are liking jaguars. I think in time people will get used to the new face of jaguar, and if not, oh well there are always old ones to restore and maintain.

 

New styling is to attract new customers to the brand . I am not purist at all . Not that X351 styling is my fave it's far better than previous gen XJ . I think they should bring back vertical grill bars rather than mesh or they can make two diff grill stylings just as they did used to in earlier versions

 

I'm sure the same "shouts" of outrage were heard when Jaguar went from looking like this...



To this.....



So, as I see it the evolution of the marque was a long time coming...

 

I think it is just the evolution that any long lasting car manufacturer goes through.

Although, I would like to still see one Jaguar saloon model that retains some of the classic lines we all know and love.

The new XJ series cars are a completely new model IMHO, gorgeous as they are, I would have preferred a different name.

 

The previous design iteration was simply not selling. Keeping the traditional styling was not going to increase sales numbers.

I was looking at MB, BMW, and Lexus (zzzzzzzz) for a full sized sporty sedan, but never considered Jaguar, due to its previous styling. Never, ever considered it.

After I saw the new XJ, I knew I had to have it. Such beauty.

Sorry you don't find the new model appealing, OP, but with the jump in sales from the last model year, don't expect Jag to go back.

 

Exactly right.

Time marches on :-)

A too-close relationship to the past is risky. Various manufacturers have had various success stories with retro-styling (think Jaguar S-type which, as far as I know, sold very well) but modern buyers, not traditionalists, are where the surest money is.

If you took all the Jag clubs and Jag forums worldwide, what would you have, maybe 15,000 people? Of them, how many are hard core traditionalists? Half? A third? If those numbers sound low, double them....and even then you have an awfully small group to cater to.

No manufacturer can risk putting all their eggs in one basket...especially when the basket is so small

Cheers
DD

 

Judging by the sales improvement Jaguar is experiencing I have to say their strategy is working. I am 50 yrs old and never gave Jaguar a second thought until the XF came out. I bought an XF and earlier this year traded for an XJL. Brands need to evolve or they die. Look at Cadillac - it was basically dead but has been rejuvinated by a radical redesign. Even MB has gone through a transformation. I have an old style '89 560SEL that I love but the new S Class is a far better car. You just need to keep an open mind. Drive a new XJL and you will appreciate the advancements.

 

i've owned the top of the class AMG's S63. CL65. ML63 all 2008 o and a SL500.
which are now all sold. and grabbed a XJ-L and people take pictures of my car?... ya i got the awh sweet car but for a flag ship of jaguar to get that much attention lol say bye to the old and in with the new forum maker

 

Nothing can match this cars looks. Nothing! And that's it.

 

I agree. I have had 3 XJ's and the 2011 XJL is the very best looking and running Jag I have owned. It ROCKS. I don't think I am old..... and when I had my first JX I was 27..... Hell, I MAY be old now......... 51

 

I am seeing more and more of the new XJs here in England, although it can be hard to distinguish them from the very, very, numerous XFs driving around. The absolute definite recognition feature is the rear of the car, with those distinctive rear lights !

So many XFs and now a lot more XJs, so Jaguar must be doing something right !

 

On one hand I do feel the original posters pain. I am more of a traditionalist than one who embraces change for the sake of change. Not a fan of non-stop novelty where things of beauty are replaced with heaps of trash just because its "new" trash

However Jaguar needed a radical change. It could not carry on making an XJ from 1965 forever. ..I think my problem is more with Ian Callum's designs. Too bulky and too generic. The prototypes where great but once production cars are made they look, well just like any other car on the road....the X300-X350 was anything but generic. The XF quite frankly looks like an upscale Toyota/Lexus with a leaper on the trunk....and a leaper that is running torwards a ditch or another vehicle instead of forward like the former bonnet mascot. I think in an effort to be progressive and radical, the brand's bloodlines have been lost in translation. At least with the 12 XF is an improvement.

But I will say, the more I stare at the new XJ the more its reminding me of a re-imagined Mark X. A poster posted pictures of his 12 XJ with a leaper fitted and I think that sold me a bit on it:






**Barryf43, I hope you do not mind using a picture of you car**

 

Not at all. I'm glad you found it helpful.

 

If you want to attact the late 20's, early 30's crowd, you have to do exactly what they did. I've never heard 'your car is sick' as many times as I have since my two XJs. My biggest gripe is the screen being underutilized... past that, how nice is it having your wife drive and getting to watch Scarface in the back, while surfing the internet on the tables... with your legs stretched out.

 

How is it a Ford? No Fordness there at all. Mechanically, it's all Jaguar, and the engine is Welsh as usual. I disagree with these 2007 people though. The car was hopelessly struggling to become modern, Ian Callum doesn't comprehend classic Jaguar style. Not the XJ anyway. The huge wheels, chrome side lips, chome surrounded mesh grille, and huge chrome wheels on an 07 look TERRIBLE. I'd rather have the car abandoned than have it all tarted up with cheesey styling add-ons. The X308 was the only modern great-looking XJ. The 2008 XJR is great, and the 2004 XJR looks good. In between, attempts to update looked poor. Someone belonging to the Lyons school of thought, like Geoff Lawson, couldv'e kept the XJ legacy alive.

Callum seems to take a less soulful and natural approach than Lawson or Lyons did. For Callum, it is an obsession over logic and correctness, and he seems to underappreciate the X308's great styling. Geoff Lawson designed beautiful Jags, and Callum's Jag designs may not mature like Lyons' and Lawson's have. I love the new ones, but he is a major departure from the history of the brand.