March 2008 was the first month of sales for the Jaguar XF, and while we haven't seen any around town yet, the Hail Mary sedan from Coventry is selling extremely well... at least by Jaguar standards. The Jaguar brand has consistently been losing sales month over month since we began reporting sales numbers in our By the Numbers posts. In February 2008, the brand sold just 1,063 units. As you've already seen, March 2008 sales numbers have been released, and the XF by itself sold 1,161 units, a number that's sure to grow as the sport sedan penetrates the media and its marketing campaign gets off the ground. Because of the XF's sales performance last month, the brand sold 1,752 units in March 2008, its best performance since July 2006 when it moved 1,997 units. If Jaguar does rebound on the back of the XF, it's too bad Ford won't be around to enjoy the fruits of its investment.
The Jaguar XF goes on sale worldwide in the UK, Europe and North America on March 10. A simultaneous debut in multiple markets is reportedly a first for Jaguar, as is this initial heavy demand for a brand new model. Automotive News reports that Jaguar has 10,000 customer deposits in hand for the new Jaguar XF, with 3,000 orders in the U.S. alone. Jaguar, a near constant fixture as Autoblog's Biggest Loser every month in our By The Numbers report of monthly sales figures, sold just 664 cars in the U.S. last month. We bet that come the end of March, it will no longer hold that dubious honor.
We knew demand would be big, as Jaguar dealers reported having to create informal waiting lists for the sports sedan, which will be sold with no mark ups on a first come, first serve basis. The successor to the stylish but slow-selling S-Type, the XF will start at $49,975 and come with a 300-hp V8 as standard. So far it's been a darling of the media, who, like us, claim that it has to be seen in person to appreciate the design. No one knows how many XF sedans Jaguar plans to sell annually, but we've heard estimates of 20,000 and Land Rover has additional production capacity if it's needed.
Seeing an automaker completely reverse its fortunes overnight is a rare sight, but we may witness that happen when the dust settles after March 10th. Thousands of XF sales will in turn mean more sales of the XK to new buyers who just dropped by a dealership to check out that "hot new sedan" everyone's talking about. Jaguar would be well advised to put a rush order on delivering the new XJ to market to complete its lineup's reinvention.
