Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Daniel Mears / The Detroit News Fashioned from lightweight aluminum, the four-seat luxury XK zips from zero to 60 mph in less than five seconds.

Jaguar pins future on sleek coupe

Next-generation XK is designed to energize the luxury brand when car debuts in 2006.

By Eric Mayne / The Detroit News

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For Jaguar Cars Ltd., there's nothing like a sexy sports car to shift attention from red ink to sheet metal.

The British marque unveiled a sleek four-seat luxury sports coupe that's a "strong indicator" of the new XK sports car due in 2006, said Jaguar CEO Joe Greenwell.

Jaguar desperately needs hot product. Its U.S. sales dropped 16 percent last year. With financial losses piling up, Jaguar is slashing costs and downsizing, including the closing of its Browns Lane plant in England.

But on Monday, automotive journalists were abuzz about the Jag concept.

"It's evocative of everything that is right with Jaguar," said Dutch Mandel, editor of AutoWeek magazine. "It's sexy. It's strong. It begs you to want to drive it."

Fashioned from lightweight aluminum, the concept vehicle zips from zero to 60 mph in less than five seconds. "This is the kind of car we're going to design and build to revitalize Jaguar," Greenwell said.

But there was a little dose of irony at the glitzy unveiling. When the sky-blue concept rolled out of a darkened tunnel onto the stage at the Cobo Center, one of its headlights was out.