An insider's view: Jaguar's reinvention

Mike O'Driscoll, Jaguar's Managing Director, confidently states that he wants the firm to return to its halcyon days and: "make Jaguar Jaguar again." At the revealing of the new XJ saloon Jaguar's Design Director Ian Callum described his vision of how a modern Jaguar should look.

Beautiful

"Jaguars should always be beautiful," states Callum, adding that they need to fit into the 21st century. With his new XJ he hopes he has done exactly that, the bold luxury saloon a radical departure from Jaguar's previously traditional, conservative styling. He admits that he has not completely thrown out references to the past, the XJ's rear lights for example being reminiscent of those on the original XJ - and the bonnet hump a visual identifier on all Jaguars, but he has reinterpreted Jaguar's look, with new details that give the XJ a confident, modern style.

Raptor eyes and cats claws

What's fascinating is Callum's description of the XJ's details. He talks of its 'raptor eyes', the slim piercing lights made possible by the use of xenon lights across the range. The rear lights too have a signature look, the three LED strips being described by Callum as the 'cats claws.'

Happy cars, brave designers

Callum can spot a happy car when he sees it, a car that the design team has enjoyed creating. His XJ is such a car, the Scot admitting: "as I get older I get braver," and the XJ is an expression of this. It's an important car for Jaguar; its flagship model needs to be instantly recognisable as a Jaguar, but not backward looking at the same time.

Brand building

Jaguar's leaper makes a return to the XJ, though the bonnet symbol - outlawed virtually everywhere worldwide due to safety regulations - makes an appearance on the boot lid, Callum saying that all future Jaguars will wear the leaping cat on their rears, too.

Tension and life

Describing the XJ's lines as having tension and life Callum stretched the car's rear to give it a natural dynamism in its architecture. His aim was to create a car as long and sleek as possible, the unusual black rear pillar used to create a 'graphic', the black portion wrapping around from the rear screen undoubtedly the XJ's most talked about visual identifier. Callum describes it as: "removing the visual mass from the rear of the car," in a bid to provide the sort of delicacy and slim-pillared look that's reminiscent of early William Lyons' designed cars.

Tipping point

There's no denying that Callum has created a striking flagship to take Jaguar confidently into the future, the designer director facing a tough brief to reinvent the XJ's look. As O'Driscoll admits, the XJ represents a 'tipping point' for the company, stating that Jaguar is: "not in the transportation business but in the entertainment business." Only time will tell whether O'Driscoll's statement is true and if Callum's bold new style will win over customers, but if the firm's current confidence is anything to go by it should flourish even in these tough times.

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