That's a shame, it would have been a nice way to bring back Daimler on a LWB more upright looking vehicle and leave the Jag as the more sporting option.
Yeah, it would be even costlier. The X360 programme is currently very expensive already, as it is going to be a highly revolutionary offering. The X351 facelift has already been delayed a bit, so that is coming soon. I am happy we are doing it right this time, as over the past 16-20 years, the XJ-Series flagship has failed to set the tone for all Jaguar design. The X200 S-Type sadly got that credit, as just after the X308 XJ (X300 facelift w/AJ-V8) was signed-off in June 1995, months later (fall 1995) concept selection occurred for the S-Type (design freeze August 1996).
Already public knowledge, but one note: The XJ-90 (my former avatar) due in 1994 was supposed to set the tone for the Jaguar line-up as a revolutionary ground-up successor to the XJ40 against the W140, E38, D2 A8, and XF20 LS400. Unfortunately in February 1991, that was ditched by Ford and most of that year was spent applying that curvaceous XJ90 design to the XJ40 platform, until final design freeze in January 1992 (Fall 1994 launch.
1990 XJ90 (later X300) 1/4 scale
X300 XJR-1994
October of that year (1992) saw styling selection for the X100 XK (December 1993 design freeze). That was fully true to being curvaceous. Three years later in 1995 the S-Type got to that curvy-retro form and led a new (cheap) interior design direction (as seen in X400, X350).
Fall 1992 X100 XK Clays
1996 XK8
The X350 unfortunately just followed after what the X200 and X400 X-Type (frozen in December 1998) established. My father and I were invited behind closed doors in Coventry in the summer of 2000 to see the X350 XJ. When I saw the X-Type reveal a few months later in October, I found it weird how the similar top model was coming after them and not setting the tone for the Jaguar family. The heavily delayed X350, had been mostly styled by late 1997, redone, Lawson died in June 1999, Callum took over in September 1999, and the X350 finally frozen in mid-2000.
1997 X350 Proposals
1997-98 X400 1:1 Clay Development
One year later (after X-Type reveal), it was obvious that BMW had gotten that right with the E65 (with top-down styling), even though I found it very ugly compared to my mother's E38. The upcoming technology of the X350 is what I liked over my dad's X308 (VDP S/C), but found it dowdy and not as pretty upon first sight. When revealed in September 2002 (April 2003 launch), only the polished aluminum show car and the XJR made the X350 look better for pre-2005 versions.
Because of Ford's
creative mismanagement, the XJ almost lost its perch as a genuine flagship and the technologically revolutionary X350 wasn't enough to attract interest. By the time the X250 XF styling had been approved in 2005, design work had just started on the X351 XJ. Once again, Ford in a rush to replace the aging S-Type, let the midsize offering again set the tone for Jaguar design. By November 2006, Giles Taylor's X351 design was barely selected and the X351 frozen just as the production XF was launched in 2008. The C-XF was actually developed shortly before X351 design selection and influenced it.
Right now, we have thankfully avoided that problem. That is why the upcoming XE, F-Pace, and X260 are evolutionary. Do not be surprised if a major facelift occurs for the X260 in 2019, to better align it with the revolutionary X360 XJ. The X152 F-Type will receive big changes for 2018, but that's all I can really say as I'm not involved in that.
