Jaguar F-Type is SA’s best-selling sportscar

“The introduction of the F-Type gave Jaguar fantastic momentum: it raised our profile as the leader in high-performance sports convertibles and no other brand sold more open top sports cars than we did in the last nine months.

“The F-Type has accounted for 36% of the convertible premium sportscar segment since its launch, hitting a high of 57 units in September last year,” says Kevin Flynn, managing director of Jaguar Land Rover South Africa and sub-Sahara Africa.

The Jaguar F-Type’s performance was a dominant one, with the next best nameplate accounting for just 25% of the segment.

Jaguar is expecting the F-TypeCoupé to do the same in the hardtop sports car arena, and projections are that it will not only bring fresh blood to the Jaguar brand but will outsell its open-top stablemate by roughly two to one. It goes on sale at the end of June, also ushering in a new flagship in the shape of the 405kW/680Nm F-Type Coupé R.

Jaguar sales have been performing well overall. “XF continues to be a strong contender in the middleweight luxury sedan segment, by offering a unique combination of emotional appeal and practicality,” says Flynn. The track-focused Jaguar XFR-S – one of the most potent four-door saloons on the market – was introduced at the end of 2013, and the most radical Jaguar XF ever thrust the middleweight back into the spotlight, with the rest of the range benefiting from its high-performance glow.

“The introduction of the intoxicating Jaguar XJR and the XJ Luxury just goes to reconfirm that Jaguar is more alive than ever,” says Flynn.

Jaguar’s global success has seen sales rise 19% last year and with an exciting product line-up waiting in the wings, the iconic brand looks set to attract more and more new customers. Jaguar recently showed its cross-over concept, the C-X17 in South Africa, and has confirmed that it will build a new compact premium sedan, the XE, on a technically advanced aluminium architecture.