Cat celebrates sales leap

It's all smiles at Jaguar! Sales of the Big Cat's flagship XJ saloon and new supercoupé, the XK, have gone through the roof. And that piece of roaring success will ease some of the troubled manufacturer's financial worries.

The introduction of the new 56 registration plate in Sept­ember saw the number of XJs purchased leap a massive 155 per cent, with two-thirds of that volume coming from the company's 2.7-litre twin-turbodiesel-engined offering.

It was a similar story for the XK coupé, with sales up 74 per cent in September. What's more, 800 advance orders have been taken so far this year for the new supercharged XKR, which arrives in showrooms at the end of November.

Unsurprisingly, bosses at Jaguar are putting the success down to a combination of the new cars and a campaign of stunning TV advertising. The 'Gorgeous' series of com­mercials - featuring a host of beautiful models and a voice-over by Holly­wood actor Willem Dafoe - has proven very popular, according to the brand.

However, with parent company Ford rumoured to be keen to sell Aston Martin, insiders believe that a move further upmarket - with high-performance models such as an XKR-R and a super-luxurious XJ like the new Portfolio, launched at Sept­ember's Paris Motor Show - is key to Jaguar's future.