Jaguar had made a big announcement at the 2014 Auto Expo, of the British company’s plans to locally assembly its flagship sedan in India, the XJ. The automaker has now launched the locally assembled Jaguar XJ, which is brought into India via the CKD route, being put together at the Tata Motors’ owned brand’s Pune plant, which also assembles the XF. This super luxury car segment is booming with competition getting intense day by day. Just recently Audi launched the 2014 A8L, priced from Rs. 1.12 crores but Jaguar has gone one step up, or should we say one step below in terms of pricing, offering the XJ range from R. 92.1 lakh onwards (ex-showroom Mumbai, pre-octroi) for the diesel model. The Jaguar XJ range started from Rs. 1.16 crores earlier, when it was being brought in to India via the CBU route.
Jaguar is offering the XJ in two trims – Premium Luxury and Portfolio, both variants are offered on the two engine options – 3.0-litre diesel and 2.0-litre petrol, but the petrol model isn’t being locally assembled just yet. The 2993cc, 6-cylinder diesel mill produces 275 PS of power and 600 Nm of torque, taking just 6.4 seconds to sprint to 100 km/hr. The petrol engined XJ takes slightly longer to hit the ton at 7.5 seconds, with its 1999cc, 4-cylinder powerplant belting out 240 PS of power and 340 Nm of torque. While the diesel XJ is limited to 250 km/hr, the petrol version top out at 241 km/hr, both engines being mated to a 8-speed ZF sourced automatic gearbox.
The long wheelbase (LWB) 2014 Jaguar XJ comes loaded with a lot of equipment, including a Rear Seat Comfort Pack which consists of a massage feature, four-way adjustment for the lower back and reclining seats. The car also gets business tables, 4-zone climate control, panoramic glass roof, electric rear side window sunblinds, soft door close, softgrain leather, Meridian sound system, navigation system and LCD screens for the rear occupants. Other features include front and side airbags, Xenon headlights with washer, front and rear parking aid with rear view camera, DSC, Jaguar DriveControl and Adaptive Dynamics. The XJ measures 5252 mm in length (longer than the new S-Class but that doesn’t translate into more interior room) and has a wheelbase of 3157 mm.
The local assembly of the Jaguar XJ leaves only the Audi A8L to be the fully imported car in this segment, being brought down via the CBU route. The BMW 7-Series and Mercedes S-Class are also being locally assembled, helping these German automakers price their super luxury saloons quite aggressively. With the launch of the locally produced XJ, the segment has very interesting options, the XJ being the cheapest, while the S-Class being the most expensive and the 7-Series and A8L sitting right in between.
