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2021 Jaguar XF First Drive Review | The final saloon to wear a Leaper?

The 2021 Jaguar XF has arrived. After a series of pandemic-related delays, Jaguar Land Rover’s latest models have finally started appearing stateside, ready to find their way into the waiting hands of buyers thirsting for options after a year of economic uncertainty. Like just about everything else in the Jaguar lineup, however, the XF was also subjected to a dramatic tidying-up for the 2021 model year that leaves it cheaper, simpler and, sadly, quite a bit less exciting. While JaguarÂ’s crossovers get new powertrain options as part of a simultaneous future-proofing effort, the big upgrade for the 2021 XF is an overhauled cabin. Just about every visible component in the XFÂ’s interior is new for 2021. The 11.4-inch Pivi Pro infotainment system gets a swanky new magnesium frame to go with its complete software overhaul. The new system plays nicely with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay and is capable of over-the-air updates. Jaguar has also added a number of standard features including proximity entry, wireless phone charging, active noise cancellation, a surround-view camera system and a 12-speaker Meridian sound system, all for $45,145.00 – about 10 grand cheaper than a base Audi A6, Volvo S90, Mercedes E-Class or BMW 5 Series. ThereÂ’s bad with the good, however. In case you missed it, the XF is now JaguarÂ’s only sedan, and the downsides donÂ’t end there for four-door fans. Jaguar not only got rid of its other sedans, it also pared down the XF to just a handful of variants. Wagon? Nope. Bigger engines? Nuh-uh. In 2020, Jaguar offered 10 different versions of the XF; this year, that number is three: P250 S RWD, P250 SE RWD and P300 R-Dynamic SE AWD. Helpfully, Jaguar names its models for their engine output figures (in PS, not HP, mind you). The P250 variants make 246 American horsepower and 269 pound-feet of torque and are offered exclusively with rear-wheel drive; the P300 R-Dynamic SE picks up another 50 horses and 27 lb-ft, along with an extra pair of driven wheels. Both utilize an eight-speed ZF automatic; both get the same size front and rear brakes. And thatÂ’s it. No six- or eight-cylinder variants. If you want more fun, look into an F-Pace. Welcome to 2021. If you were hoping for a redeeming description of a slimmed-down, lightweight XFÂ’s sporty driving dynamics right about now, sorry, youÂ’re not getting that either.

Jaguar C-X75 production run canceled

"We feel we could make the car work, but looking at the global austerity measures in place now, it seems the wrong time to launch an 800,000-pound to 1 million-pound supercar."
Those words are from Jaguar Global Brand Director Adrian Hallmark, and as true as they may be, it still stings a little bit. After all, we've been looking forward to the Jaguar C-X75 ever since word came from Jolly Olde that it was green-lit for a short production run.
Some of the cool bits and pieces the world will now be without: a powerful but relatively miserly 1.6-liter turbocharged and supercharged four-cylinder engine, two electric motors driving all four wheels and a carbon fiber chassis developed by Williams F1. Sigh.

Jaguar Land Rover gives Lyft $25M and a fleet of cars

Lyft recently raised $600 million in a massive funding round, and now we know that $25 million of that came from Jaguar Land Rover, via its mobility services subsidiary InMotion. The car maker's investment in Lyft goes beyond just funds, however; it's providing Lyft drivers with a fleet of Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles as part of the tie-up, and it's also going to work with the ride-hailing tech company on autonomous vehicle testing. This is yet another high-profile partner for Lyft after a spate of recent new collaborators, including Waymo and, just last week, Nutonomy. Now, Jaguar Land Rover is also joining the company's Open Platform for autonomous cars: The collaboration with InMotion will see the Jaguar Land Rover-owned company "develop and test its mobility services, including autonomous vehicles" using Lyft's platform. Lyft's ability to rapidly bring on a lot of partners in the car maker space, specifically around autonomy, may have a lot to do with rival Uber's ongoing problems, which now also include mounting calls for CEO Travis Kalanick to step back, at least temporarily, from his leadership role. Lyft has also been pretty clear about seeking to partner on autonomy, rather than pursue its own tech, which is likewise different from Uber's current approach. Uber, too, has brought automakers to the table around self-driving services and making use of its ride hailing platform for mobility service offerings. Both Uber and Lyft seem interested in being the layer that connects riders and these future services, and for automakers, it means leaving a complex and challenging part of the picture to partners with experience and expertise, rather than having to spin up that part of the tech business themselves. The fleet provision in the deal is also interesting, and suggests the partnership between the two could involve more strategic cooperative service offerings ahead of the advent of commercial self-driving tech. Lyft gaining more ground among automakers beyond longtime partner GM also explains why it was reported that the ride hailing company turned down overtures regarding a potential acquisition by the Detroit-based automaker.Written by Darrell Etherington for TechCrunch.Related Video: