| BRITANNIA Jaguar:Coming on Strong by Geoff Miller Photography: Jaguar
The elegant and powerful flowing lines of the XK8 evoke the great Jaguar legends of the past -the XK120, the C, D and E-type and more recently the XJ220. The style features the company's characteristic 'feline' look with its low stance at the front end, traditional oval grille, high waistline and the muscular haunches over the rear wheels. Jaguar's first sports car in 21 years features an all-new four-litre engine and represents the latest step in the company's long-term strategy, following its worldwide sales success with the XJ Series saloon in 1995. Sales in Jaguar's largest market - the United States - were up by 19% in 1995 at 18,085, while in the UK, sales of 8,796 were 30% up on 1994. Jaguar's share of the UK luxury market also increased to 18.8%, the highest level since 1988, and sales throughout Continental Europe more than doubled during the year, with all-time record Jaguar sales in Italy (over 1000 cars), Germany (2525), and Spain. Total sales in Japan were 2311 cars, an impressive 60% increase on 1994, sales in the Middle East doubled (led by strong improvements in Kuwait, Oman and Turkey), and a recently opened sales company in Brazil experienced a four-fold increase over its first year. Sales also doubled in Korea, Singapore and Thailand. Export earnings exceeded £1 billion for the first time.
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Jaguar's new XK8 sports car was recently unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show to great acclaim. Designed to replace the best-selling XJS sports car, the XK8 will go on sale in October in both coupe and convertible versions. The introduction follows strong 1995 sales which rose 30% to almost 40,000 vehicles, with more than 30,000 of them going for export.