Ian Callum claims that the Jaguar XJ successor will be a special one

It was sometime in early 2017 when we last heard from Jaguar regarding the XJ’s successor at the New York Auto Show. At that time, it was the general manager of North American product management, David Larsen who talked about the up and coming XJ. Ian Callum, who is in charge of Jaguar’s design, told CAR Magazine that the new range topper is “nearly signed off”. And so we are assuming that we will be seeing the XJ in one version or another very soon. With all the developments going on in Jaguar, this is surely exciting news.

Callum gave us a little more idea of what is happening internally, and apparently, there have been a lot of arguments regarding the XJ’s direction – specifically on where the next generation model should go. So the team ended up deciding that the XJ’s successor will be “something quite special”.

However, they did not share further details apart from that. If you were not aware, the outgoing XJ was actually launched in 2009 and it is the oldest model in its class today. With very little detail about the upcoming XJ, Callum also adds that we will not see the model any time soon as it will definitely not come out in 2018.

Since we are already talking about the XJ, we might as well discuss its newest iteration - that is the full-size XJR575 sedan in a rear-wheel-drive setup. In the United States, customers could get their hands on this model for $122,400.

This also rewards buyers that do not go for the performance versions of the S-Class, A8 or the 7 Series that come equipped with a 5.0 liter supercharged V8 that enables it to produce as much as 575 horsepower and 517 pound-feet (700 Newton metres) of torque. And in just 4.2 seconds, it can sprint from zero to 60 miles per hour (96 kilometers per hour) or 4.4 seconds to 62 miles per hour / 100 kilometers per hour. Furthermore, the luxury car boasts a top speed of 186 miles per hour (300 kph), which is pretty impressive.

Since Callum made it clear that we will not be seeing the XJ’s successor in 2018, we are guessing that it could make its debut sometime in 2019. But as 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the XJ, we are hoping that Jaguar surprises up with a concept to celebrate this day.