2012 Jaguar XF Update Unveiled Ahead Of Australian Debut

Jaguar's large XF has come in for a mid-life makeover, debuting this week at the New York Auto Show with a new face and a few other tweaks.

With the debut of the revised cat, Jaguar has created a new family face for its luxury cars. Up front, the 2012 models gets a wider grille flanked by sleek new headlights borrowed from the larger XJ saloon. 

The XF's bonnet and front bumper remain largely unchanged but for sharper vertical character lines in the bumper, and even the chrome trim in the outer vents looks to have been merely flipped upside-down - to good effect.

 Updates to the rear are similarly subtle, limited to restyled internals for the taillights, which now also extend into the bootlid at both the top and bottom.

The chrome trim along the bootlid now also has the look of stretching into the taillights, thanks to the chrome centre section of each light.

External updates are rounded out by a new gill design in the front quarter panels, along with new alloy wheel styles.

In the cabin, the 2012 XF picks up a new steering wheel and a restyled instrument panels, along with updated seats. On the entertainment front, a new 1200W Bowers & Wilkins sound system joins the options list.

The XF's engine line-up will carry over largely unchanged, however a new 2.2 litre 'AJ-i4D' diesel engine will also join the range, producing 141kW and 450Nm of torque.

The new diesel is based on the 2.2 litre engine used by Ford and Land Rover, and features a water-cooled turbocharger, low-friction pistons, a new crankshaft and new injectors.

Jaguar has also added stop-start technology to the engine, and combined with a ZF eight-speed automatic transmission, the British carmaker says the engine will return fuel consumption figures of 5.4 l/100km.

In the XF, the Euro V-compliant diesel engine sees the 0-100km/h sprint knocked over in 8.5 seconds. Fuel consumption is listed at 5.4 l/100km, making it the perfect Jag for environment-minded buyers.

Australia

An Australian debut for the new XF is expected for October. Expect to see it at this year's Australian International Motor Show in Melbourne, in July.

With the addition of the new 2.2 litre diesel engine, the price of entry into the XF range is expected to fall below the $99,990 drive-away price of the XF petrol V6.