The Jaguar XF Sportbrake is Dead and That Sucks
The Jaguar XF Sportbrake faced significant headwinds in the current automotive market, and now it’s dead.
We’ve all been there. There were loads of things we wanted do, places we wanted to see, adventures still to be had. But everything ended too soon. Unfortunately, as much as we can sometimes see that a relationship isn’t right? The fundamental issues can only be ignored for so long, and that sad truth brings us to the fate of the Jaguar XF Sportbrake — it’s dead. Well, at least in the United States.
Last week, our friends at Roadshow got the official word from the brass in Coventry, which was delivered via email, with the blunt, rip-off-the-band-aid candor I prefer for bad news, “We will no longer be offering the XF Sportbrake in the US.”
The sexy longroof might have made enthusiasts swoon, the gorgeous lines, 380-horsepower supercharged V6, standard all-wheel drive, and generous cargo area just weren’t enough to keep it afloat. So yup, the rest of the world will continue to get the option of the luxurious longroof, but it seems that once again, America just doesn’t deserve nice things. Unless you’re talking eight-pot muscle cars and giant trucks, which — at least at this moment — I’m not.
For the record, the XE is gone too, though I’m honestly not as upset by that one. Perhaps it’s because Jaguar pulled a bait and switch with the manual option. Without a proper stick, it just wasn’t the proper competitor to the BMW 3 Series I think it needed to be.
Here in the States, wagons are still wrongly associated with the forlorn, malaise-era junk which made the platform the butt of jokes for a generations, so while enthusiasts can be disappointed in the decision? We can’t really be surprised. Personally, car spotting is one of my favorite past times — it’s almost exclusively what I use my Instagram for. And in the three models years the Sportbrake has been available on our shores? I’ve never caught one of these parked on the street, or seen one on the road. That should tell you something about the sales numbers — it’s not like I don’t keep my eyes peeled for Jags.
Now sure, my home base of Seattle is hardly the automotive hotbed that Los Angeles is. We do get our fair share of cool hardware, however, even if most of it is in the vein of weird JDM off-roaders like the Mitsubishi Delica. So in the four years since I left La La Land? I’d have guessed I’d see at least one. But nope. The silver lining here is that folks with the good taste to have scored a Sportbrake are likely to see good resale values in the event they want to sell, and given how soft the American market is for wagons, we should probably be glad we ever got it at all. To remind yourself of what you’ve lost, please check out my buddy Tom Voelk’s video below.
I started this thread for members to sound off about the news, so please feel free to head over and comment. And if you happen to own a Sportbrake? Please post a pic — seems like your Kitty is a rare bird now!
Photos: Jaguar