Jaguar still lacks the X-factor

With a new X-Type, Jaguar has rolled over and died, says neil lyndon

Prepare thy aged eyes to weep, or if not so, thy noble heart to break. You might suppose that you have seen everything that Jaguar can do to drive itself out of business. Then you see the new X-Type.

The X-Type is Jaguar's compact 'executive' car, meant to compete with BMW's 3 Series, Audi's A4 and Mercedes-Benz's C-Class. Introduced in 2001 it was to be Jaguar's big-seller, a cash-cow and corporate redeemer, with more than 200,000 sales a year worldwide.

Barely half those sales have ever been achieved - largely because the X-Type was nothing

more than a Mondeo dressed up in its dad's old dinner jacket. Jaguar took the calamitous decision to lumber this new car with the 'heritage' looks which had dragged down sales of its other less-than-captivating models. Nobody under the age of 45 ever bought one.

As for the 'new' X-Type, due to go on sale next year, it's questionable whether anybody under 65 would want to be seen in it because, dismayingly,