The 2009 Jaguar XFR

The 2009 Jaguar XFR represents a fairly dramatic step by the company. They have redesigned the car in a way that really changes the look of the car. Over the years Jaguars have come to have a specific look that allowed you to look at the car and say that’s a Jaguar. Clearly this decision was made in the hopes of attracting new customers. Whether or not it actually works remains to seen but it is certainly a bold step by the company as they try to compete with some pretty tough competitors.

The first thing that you will notice when you look at the 2009 Jaguar XFR is that it really doesn’t look like a Jaguar. One thing that you could always say about Jaguar’s was that they always had a distinctive and instantly recognizable look. Admittedly that look was always a bit old fashioned but for a lot of buyers that was the appeal. This has changed dramatically with XFR as it has a much more modern look. In fact it looks just like its major competitors from BMW and Mercedes. Whether this is good idea or not remains to be seen. Obviously the company has made the decision that in order to compete they needed to update the look of the car. That being said it does mean losing a lot of what it means to be a Jaguar.

If the first thing that you notice about the 2009 Jaguar XFR is the way that it looks the thing that you will probably remember is the way that it drives. The real change has been under the hood where the car has been given a much more powerful engine. They have upgraded it from a six cylinder to a five liter V8. The new engine produces over five hundred horsepower and makes the car more competitive in a class where five hundred horse power engines are generally considered to be a requirement. The intention of the redesign is clearly to make the car appear more sporty and by and large they have succeeded in doing this.

The 2009 Jaguar XFR competes in a tough market, one in which there is a lot of competition for a fairly limited number of buyers. The cars are high performance sedans and they are fairly expensive. The big players in this market are BMW and Mercedes but there has been a lot of competition coming from other manufacturers, especially the Japanese ones. Clearly Jaguar has decided that they needed to make some pretty dramatic changes in order to remain competitive. Whether this works and attracts new buyers to the brand or backfires and alienates their traditional buyers remains to be seen. However one thing that can be said about the Jaguar XFR is that the performance is outstanding. In that respect it is a very strong competitor in its class.