Jaguar XF Sportbrake (Estate, Wagon) scooped

2012 Jaguar XF Estate (Sportbrake)

Here's our first glimpse of Jaguar's second-ever estate car - the new 2012 Jag XF Sportbrake.

The Sportbrake name has been confirmed today, as our spies caught the XF estate on the roads testing around Jaguar's Coventry R&D base.

Jaguar XF Sportbrake: the estate spyshots

A wagon derivative of the XF was not in the original plan conceived on Ford's watch, so the product planners have had a considerable task to convert the four-door saloon into an executive estate.

These photos confirm that the XF estate is little longer than the saloon, yet bootspace is said to approach an Audi A6's. The Avant's loadbay is 565 litres.

Expect the usual fold-down rear seats, more rear headroom and executive toys such as electric boot operation.

2012 Jaguar XF Sportbrake

More on Jaguar's XF estate

Underneath that slab-sided zebra disguise lies a trad XF style. It's only different from the B-pillars backwards, and our design sources suggest there's a sporty side glasshouse with a coupe graphic to counter the slightly taller roofline.

Peel away the disguise and you'll find what's bound to become the most-talked-about aspect of the new XF Sportbrake: a black stylised wraparound rear pillar.

2012 Jaguar XF Sportbrake

What, like the XJ's bling-around black D-pillar?

Exactly. As revealed by CAR's artist's impression of the XF estate, it will echo the rear styling of the Jaguar XJ - it's a polycarbonate cover, a bit like on the Mini's A-pillars.

Expect to see the new Jaguar XF Sportbrake estate on sale later in 2012, when it will rival the BMW 5-series Touring, Audi A6 Avant and Mercedes E-class estate.



More images:

Source: Car Magazine

Scoop: Jaguar XF Estate (2012)

Jaguar will launch its new XF estate in 2012. CAR's artist's impression reveals how the Jag XF wagon will look - and Jaguar sources promise it will be very much a sporting station wagon.

Despite being merely a bodystyle derivative of the XF saloon, the development of the XF estate is taking some time and we won't see it at a motor show this year.

Jaguar XF Estate (2012): why the delay?

 

Becuase Ford's product planners didn't include a wagon bodystyle from day one, Jaguar's engineers are having to develop the XF estate from scratch.

This is making the project considerably more expensive and complex - and Jaguar will have to tool up the Castle Bromwich plant in the production breaks over holiday periods.

What will the Jaguar XF estate look like?

 

Our sources suggest the XF estate will be the same 4961mm length as the saloon - and the overhang will be shared too. We hear the XJ's wraparound rear pillars will translate to the wagon, giving Jaguar's second load lugger a more striking rump than the X-type estate's.

However, despite the package restraints, Jaguar promises the XF estate will be as practical as the Audi A6 Avant and BMW 5-series Touring, if not quite as echoingly large as class leader the Mercedes E-class estate.

Why is Jaguar building an XF estate?

 

The XF is the cat's biggest selling model, accounting for around 30,000 units a year. In the UK, the XF makes up 80% of all Jaguar sales.

The name of the game is broadening Jaguar's product portfolio. So the 2.2 turbodiesel arriving on 1 September 2011 stretches Jag into company car heartland, while the XF estate will put the model on yet more buyers' radar.

We expect to see the new Jaguar XF estate at a European motor show in 2012, probably Geneva or Paris. An American debut is unlikely, as wagons don't cut it in the States.

Source: Jaguar XF Estate (2012) scooped