Currently reading: Jaguar XJ will be replaced, confirms design boss
Jaguar design chief Ian Callum confirms the luxurious XJ saloon will be replaced, as the company also looks at new model lines

Jaguar design chief Ian Callum has confirmed the Jaguar XJ will be replaced and additional model lines, rather than new bodystyles of existing cars, are being investigated.

Talking about a new XJ, he said: “We’re looking at that now, and other things, too - other car lines, additional ones. [We’ll] continue to grow.”

Callum, speaking to Autocar at the recent Los Angeles motor show, wouldn’t be drawn on precisely where the growth would come from but did say capacity issues would stunt any immediate new models.

“The reality is a capacity issue. It’s the biggest restraint,” he said.

Jaguar Land Rover’s annual sales should reach full capacity of around 650,000 units across its three UK factories once the Jaguar XE and Jaguar F-Pace models are fully ramped up. A further factory is due to open in Slovakia in 2018.

“JLR doesn’t want to be BMW or Audi in size,” he said. “Chasing volume relentlessly is a problem. We don’t have aspirations for more than a million a year between us. You can lose prestige.”

Callum said Jaguar is unlikely to follow BMW or Audi in making multiple bodystyles of the same car but will instead look at adding more model lines.

“We’d like to do more volume of the cars we’ve got. That’s where growth will come from: additional lines,” Callum said.

When asked about a model smaller than the XE, Callum said his team were “continuously talking about a smaller Jaguar” but added there was “nothing planned” for a production model. He also ruled out a return of the XK.

As for the XJ, Callum believes the design of the current car “still stands out on its own. People think it’s brand new if they haven’t seen it before”. He hinted that there was a push within the company to make the next XJ more practical, but he believed it should still major on style. 

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The Jaguar XJ is a thoroughly modern luxury saloon, and a brilliantly capable one

Mark Tisshaw

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Title: Editor

Mark is a journalist with more than a decade of top-level experience in the automotive industry. He first joined Autocar in 2009, having previously worked in local newspapers. He has held several roles at Autocar, including news editor, deputy editor, digital editor and his current position of editor, one he has held since 2017.

From this position he oversees all of Autocar’s content across the print magazine, autocar.co.uk website, social media, video, and podcast channels, as well as our recent launch, Autocar Business. Mark regularly interviews the very top global executives in the automotive industry, telling their stories and holding them to account, meeting them at shows and events around the world.

Mark is a Car of the Year juror, a prestigious annual award that Autocar is one of the main sponsors of. He has made media appearances on the likes of the BBC, and contributed to titles including What Car?Move Electric and Pistonheads, and has written a column for The Sun.

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5wheels 2 March 2016

Long overhang

Again designers have allowed the amount of front overhand to become an issue. Safety issues do put some constraints on tailoring the design but I think that the amount of front overhand is OTT for this design. It does remind me of the days I had the pleasure of belting an E Type round Brands Hatch, short arse long nose was not the pleasure of handling, it was bloody hard work and the limits were all too easily found
5wheels 8 January 2016

The page is piickled

2 and three repeats?? Autocar is out on the razzle again
dipdaddy 4 January 2016

its down to personal

its down to personal preference but I quite like the current XJ. its quite a looker and very smart. yes, there are some issues with exterior that don't blend well but the interior is far classier than some of its rivals in my opinion. very british in the way it looks and its not really trying hard to look good and i like that understated impression. personally i'd have the current XJ interior in the X350 XJ, as i do like the X350 exterior a lot.

Lets hope the new XJ won't be yet another XE/XF rip off design.