Jaguar has all but confirmed speculation that a new XJ

Jaguar has all but confirmed speculation that a new XJ is due to go into market as early as June 2009 according to statements by Jaguar executives. Jaguar MD Mike O'Driscoll said of the carthat it 'takes, we believe, the luxury saloon to new heights in terms of its technical enhancements'. That was during an event previewing the brand's upcoming new engines.

The vehicle will be a radical design departure for the XJ label, promising to look more like a four-door coupe than a big sedan. Currently Jaguar's superstar car is the XF and Chief Designer Ian Callum had intended for it to take on coupe-like looks even as a four-door sedan. This was achieved partly by getting the rear roofline to slope towards the back more like an XK than a saloon. Similar-looking cars include the Porsche Panamera, Aston Martin Rapide and the Mercedes-Benz CLS. With the XJ that philosophy will be taken to the next level.

Power sources for the new car will include Jaguar's new 3.0 V6 turbo diesels and petrol V8s. While a supercharged petrol V8 will power the high performance XJ-R, no plans have been made for a diesel V8.

With the XJ the company hopes to enhance its rising position in the world of luxury cars in a segment currently dominated by the BMW 7 Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class. However, Jaguar is not very interested in going high-volume on its cars, adopting a ‘quality over quantity' attitude instead.