Jaguar XF Sportbrake revealed

These are the first official pictures of the all-new XF Sportbrake, due to make its debut at the Geneva motor show next week.

Jaguar will also launch the hi-performance 524bhp XFR sportbrake early next year with the all-wheel-drive version coming later in 2013, when the XF platform is re-engineered mainly to exploit sales potential in the American snowbelt.

Jaguar’s hot estates will offer key rivals to the Audi RS6, BMW M5 Touring and Mercedes E63 AMG estate. In the meantime, Jaguar will launch the rear-drive Sportbrake with volume-selling diesel and petrol engines for UK sale starting in November.

The Sportbrake is entirely new from the B-pillars back and is said to be just as torsionally stiff as the XF saloon, despite the tailgate opening. Jaguar’s distinctive and sometimes controversial black C-pillar detail has been carried over from the Jaguar XJ saloon. A new roof design and modified rear door frames and windows release an extra 48mm of headroom for rear-seat passengers. The rear seats are a new design, featuring a 60/40 split and an integral ski hatch. Levers in the load bay allow the seat backs to be dropped while accessing the luggage area through the tailgate opening.

With the seats up, boot volume is a roomy 550 litres, although its main rivals all possess more load space. The Audi A6 Avant and 5-series Touring each offer 560 litres and the Mercedes E-class estate has a 696-litre hold. With the seats down, the Sportbrake boasts 1675 litres of load space. That’s slightly bigger than both the A6 and the 5-series, which both have a 1670-litre capacity. However, the E-class still tops the class for all-out load-carrying ability, with 1765 litres.

Seats down, the XF Sportbrake also scores with a 1.97m long and 1.06m wide load bay — sufficient for bags of golf clubs to be stored sideways, Jaguar claims.

The central section of the boot floor is hinged into three sections and can be used as a divider to stop smaller items of luggage from rolling around. There’s also storage space under the floor and two full-length aluminium floor rails to which nets and retaining bars can be attached. Jaguar says the load area is trimmed in the same high-specification carpet as the front of the cabin. If the detachable towbar is specified, there is a dedicated space under the boot floor in which to store it.

The tailgate is made partly from SMC (sheet moulded composite) to save weight and it has a soft-close action. It can also be specified with power-operated opening and closing. Self-levelling rear air suspension is standard on all versions of the Sportbrake, replacing the standard-issue coil springs of the saloon. This, says Jaguar, ensures that the car’s handling characteristics remain unchanged even when the car is laden. Using the towbar activates Jaguar’s Trailer Sway Mitigation system, which uses the anti-lock braking and stability control systems to “reduce the risk” of a trailer snaking.

The Sportbrake will be available globally with a choice of four diesel engines: the 2.2-litre, four-cylinder unit in 161bhp and 187bhp guises, and the twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6 in two states of tune: 237bhp and 271bhp.

Two exterior design packages will also be available. The Aero pack (which is standard on the S model) adds a deeper front bumper, side sills and rear valance. The Black pack replaces the exterior brightwork with gloss black trim and dark-coloured wheels.