These days, an automotive brand's identity often resides in the design details, and the new XJ's designers realize this. They've given us a new take on an ultra-luxury sedan; most of it is fresh but, unfortunately neither the package nor the details ring true. This is odd for a company who should have the DNA "nailed" after over a half-century of big sedan design language upon which to draw.

Generally, every single reference (or even "brief nod") to Jaguar tradition is absent. Consider for a moment that, with Rolls-Royce and Bentley going their separate ways once again, and Rolls-Royce having crossed the line from the real world into the Neverland of extreme bad taste back in 2003, there is a huge vacuum in the market for a high end Brit luxury car with a traditional package. Jaguar have ignored this opening to give us a car that's the automotive equivalent of a wine bar's slop bucket--a blend of different notes of varied vintages and sources that, in the end, courts, not greatness, but disposable, forgettable waste.

The silhouette, especially the greenhouse, seems to have been penned in homage to the Audi sedan range that are already long in the tooth. The lower body, too, has a Teutonic quality to its proportions, with the wheels being pushed out more towards the ends of the body and the generic shape of the wheel openings.

I have never cottoned to the new grille since the introduction of the XF (don't give me the line about it's XJ Series III derivation that I recently heard from a salesman). Too much chrome; too sharp-edged; proportionally too large (again an Audi similarity here). And when are designers going to stop trying to impress each other (leaving us confused in the extreme) with wacky headlight designs? Do the styling bosses run Japanese robot cartoons in the company cafeteria during lunch breaks?

The front aspect leaves me entirely cold, and the rear offers scant relief. Proportionally, it's somewhat inoffensive, but the Toyota-ish up-and-over taillights sacrifice function for tastelessness.

The use of the leaper as a rear logotype (begun on the XF, too) sends the viewer's eyes on a journey to the Northwest, where there's little to provide comfort. Why this jarring element should find its home on an otherwise rigidly symmetrical rear fascia is anyone's guess.

Hmmm...there may just be a bit too much guessing going on here, now that I think about it a bit more...on the part of the designers (who seem to have lost the key somewhere, to a degree not seen since the introduction of the ultimate Elephant-designed-by-blind-men XJ-S), and in the case of the unfortunate viewers whose wallets and need for social superiority haven't yet clouded their sense on common sense, tradition, and good taste.

The interior does not disappoint, whether the observer's impression of the exterior leaves him horrified or intrigued, depending upon his preferences. To me, there is a feeling of "we did it because we could" excess in the details. I feel like Captain Nemo at the controls of the Tata Nautilus--Flagship of the Fleet--while my eyes look for a restful place to settle on the instrument panel and its vicinity. There's a definite Jules Verne-lost-in-Delhi quality to all the outrageous juxtaposition of the overly-fussy chromed, tanned, and knurled details. Perhaps it's best to park it facing the sea, so the simple horizon gives one's eyes respite.

I'm probably destined to be a tiny insect voice in the wilderness of cacophony surrounding the Jackson funeral event of this car's introduction (one equivocally dreadful style icon exits in a gold-plated coffin, and a week, later a new, chrome-detailed one enters), but the "new" XJ--which I'm sure will crowd the streets and lanes everywhere that folks need to be seen with their latest pricey bauble--leaves me cold, dazed, and confused.

Tata/Jag didn't get anything right on this one, design-wise, and it's a sad price to pay for a car whose performance, especially in supercharged 5-litre trim, promises a genuine revelation.

I do agree that the interior is really nice but some of the exterior angles do look like an Audi. The back of the car is quite ugly but the front is okay. The best news is the body itself which keeps the aluminium philosophy. The new 5.0 liter engine is quite impressive and the supercharged is even more. Would I change my 2005 XJR for the 2010 XJ, probably not. The worst part of the car is that their is no link between the old XJ and the new XJ, really sad.

My first impression was that of another aero-smooth generic design. After looking at the images for awhile, the new Jag does have some subtle, but distinctive, sculpturing of the sheet metal. I like the chrome leaping cat on the trunk lid, and the large, aggressive grille. I will miss the hood ornament, but this was inevitable with pedestrian safety concerns. In-person, this long and sleek cat may look very impressive.

I own a 2004 XJ and have always loved the wood trim, and was concerned about deletion of the wood on the new XJ. Fortunately, they did not with this long over-due interior change. The instrument panel and air vents look over-sculptured and will get old quickly, other than that the interior looks very nice.

I am glad they retained the aluminum frame and skin, but would have preferred the base engine to be a V-8 on the XJ.

Jaguar stayed with tradition too long on the XJ, and it showed in the poor sales. A change was due, hopefully the big cat will still be distinctive enough set it apart from the crowd.