Erin Baker – How Jaguar Rules The Roost

I’ve been driving one this week and it encapsulates the answer to the question of how Jaguar has made its resurgent way up the sales charts over the past three or four years.

The first XF hit the market in 2007, replacing the distinctly out-of-date S-Type. Its instantly sharper lines and decent engine line-up gave Jaguar a hit in the executive-saloon sector, and fleet customers a real alternative to a BMW 5-Series, Mercedes E-class or Audi A6.

The new XF has taken the game on again, not with a small evolution, but a step change. Impressive for a company that could be forgiven for letting complacency creep in round the edges.

I’ve been driving the R-Sport trim level, which gave our test car a body kit featuring a sports front bumper, body-colour side sills, rear spoiler and R-Sport badging on the side vents. Our test car also featured 19in blade 5-spoke Gloss Black wheels (an excellent, if expensive addition, at £1,200) and ammonite grey paint at £650.

Imagine that amount of sharp, visual aggression on an S-Type. The supercharged S-Type R had none of the aesthetic appeal of even an R Sport-trimmed XF (the second level up from base), let alone an XF S. Ian Callum has taken some big styling risks with what used to be a staid British brand.

Then there’s the aluminium chassis and the new Ingenium engines. This new range is the perfect example of how much difference engines make to cars. I’m not talking petrol v diesel v hybrid v electric v fuel cell. I’m talking about the development of fossil-fuel engines, and an old 2.0-litre diesel unit versus this new Ingenium 2.0-litre diesel.

More performance plus increased efficiency is the basic formula for engine makers these days. A 500cc-per-cylinder aluminium block, plus bore, stroke and cylinder spacing, are all shared between Ingenium petrol and diesel units (and hybrid electric units) in the new family.

The 2.0-litre diesel we tested has 17 per cent less friction than the previous version, and is significantly lighter too.

Then there’s the new infotainment system, shared across the group, which we tried out in the Land Rover Discovery Sport last month. It’s smart, it’s invitingly simple to use yet complex in its technology, and utterly user-friendly. It’s also: understated.

Which brings us to Jaguar in 2016. A very British brand: sophisticated, yet simple. No trickery, no faking it. Just doing what it knows how to do, very well.