Some real-life James Bond-style stunt driving came to London鈥檚 Canary Wharf to mark the unveiling of Jaguar鈥檚 all-new XF.
Renowned British stunt driver Jim Dowdall, a veteran of Hollywood movies including Bond, Bourne and Indiana Jones, drove the new XF 240 metres across a high-wire over the Royal Dock to demonstrate its lightweight aluminium construction.
The new version of the executive saloon, which will be built at Jaguar Land Rover鈥檚 Castle Bromwich plant in Birmingham, will go on sale in autumn this year.
It is due to have its first public unveiling at the New York Auto Show on April 1.
The new XF uses Jaguar鈥檚 advanced aluminium-intensive architecture to deliver a vehicle that will be up to 190kg lighter than the existing model.
It will be 7mm shorter and 3mm lower than the car it replaces but boasts a 2,960mm wheelbase that is 51mm longer, enabling the creation of more rear seat space with more legroom, kneeroom and headroom.
The XF will also feature Jaguar Land Rover鈥檚 2.0-litre Ingenium diesel engine which is being built at its new engine factory near Wolverhampton.
The diesel is available in 160bhp and 177bhp variants and offered with six-speed manual and eight-speed automatic transmissions.
The leanest and greenest is a 160bhp manual which will emit just 104g/km of CO2 and deliver combined fuel economy of more than 70mpg.
Jaguar bosses say it will be 鈥渓ightest, most efficient non-hybrid diesel model in the segment鈥 and be 80kg lighter than its closest competitor.
Other engine options include a 3.0-litre 295bhp V6 twin-turbo diesel and a 3.0-litre V6 supercharged petrol engine which will deliver 374bhp.
Cabin features include the new InControl Touch Pro premium infotainment system and 12.3-inch TFT instrument cluster.
Jaguar engineers say the double wishbone and integral link suspension which offers near-50:50 weight distribution will deliver 鈥渢he ideal balance between agility, comfort and refinement鈥.
Jaguar鈥檚 director of design, Ian Callum, said: 鈥淚n creating the all-new XF, as a design team we have been driven by discipline, the discipline of simplicity.
鈥淓very exterior line on the XF has a clear purpose 鈥 nothing is superfluous. Achieving that simplicity takes time and requires great determination - it鈥檚 all too easy to add lines to a car, but much harder to add character by leaving lines out.
鈥淚nside too, we have been driven by the desire to ensure the XF鈥檚 cabin is as comforting as it is comfortable.
鈥淣ew technology, including our new 10.2-inch touchscreen, is combined carefully with materials that cosset and reassure.
鈥淭he all-new XF has a clear sense of calm and strength, both outside and inside 鈥 and I鈥檓 proud of my team for delivering that.鈥
The original Jaguar XF was first unveiled in autumn 2007 as the replacement for the Jaguar S-Type and launched at that year鈥檚 Frankfurt Motor Show.
It represented a radical new design direction for Jaguar as the car-maker sought to move away from its familiar reto-styling that harked back to the days of Sir William Lyons.
Although the original was still based on the underpinnings of the outgoing S-Type it also featured some groundbreaking internal features, including flush-fitting air conditioning vents which rotated open when the car was started and the JaguarDrive Selector - a rotating gearshift dial which rose out of the centre console.
