Jaguar has a lot of exciting models in its lineup – fresh wheels that offer tempting (even compelling) alternatives to the usual suspects from Germany and Japan. The XJ, however, is not one of them. And its future is uncertain.
After speaking with Jaguar’s North American product manager David Larsen at the New York Auto Show this week, Motor1 reports that… there’s little to report on the British automaker’s flagship sedan.
Introduced seven years ago, the current XJ is the oldest model in the Jaguar lineup and (save for the soon-to-be-replaced Audi A8) in its segment as well. It’s also the company’s slowest sellers (and one of the most lethargic in its segment). That doesn’t leave Coventry with many reasons to keep it around, so it’ll either have to replace it or retire it soon enough.
“We had a facelift with 2016, so it is approaching the end of its lifecycle,” Larsen told Motor1 regarding the XJ. “We’re looking at, you know, future opportunities of where that could possibly go.” He would, however, neither confirm nor deny rumors on the prospect of its replacement.
The automaker may find its energies would be better spent elsewhere, letting the XJ – long having served as its main sedan line – go the same way as the XK. Which is, to say, upstaged and outmoded by smaller stablemates.
It wouldn’t be the only luxury automaker without a competitor in the segment, after all. While Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Maserati, and Lexus all vie for slices of that particular pie, neither Acura, Infiniti, nor Volvo bother with it. And Jaguar could soon switch from one category to the other.
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