Jaguar brings its "Ultimate XJ" to Beijing.
If you think American luxury buyers are picky, you haven’t been to China lately. With a heaping helping of billionaires and nearly a million millionaires, there’s a booming market for high-line products. In fact, Bentley is just one of many brands now selling more cars in China than anywhere else.
But those everyday luxury cars U.S. and European buyers settle for don’t necessarily have traction in the People’s Republic, where buyers want more, more, more – starting with plenty of room in the back seat, and all the amenities normally available to those up front.
So, hoping to pick up a bigger share of the market, Jaguar is displaying what it calls the “Ultimate XJ” at the Beijing Motor Show.
Among the many niceties: the back is not only bigger but features seats that are independently adjustable – power controls, of course. Even the fold-town tables are motorized, and there are iPads with keyboards mounted into the back of the front seats.
For many Chinese luxury buyers it's all about backseat room and amenities.
Those who can afford a chauffeur are likely to do at least some work while stuck in Beijing traffic, so the motorized rear business table is machined out of aluminum with piano black trim.
For those who’d prefer to lay back and enjoy the ride, there’s a 15-channel, 20-speaker Meridian surround sound system. And they can toast their good fortune thanks to a champagne chiller between the seats, complete with a pair of handy champagne flutes.
On the mechanical side, the Jaguar XJ Ultimate is powered by the British maker’s 510-horsepower supercharged 5.0-liter V-8. The suspension, meanwhile, has been tuned specifically for rear seat ride comfort.
The Jaguar XJ Ultimate will come exclusively in Black Amethyst paint, with 20-inch Maroa-style forged alloy wheels.
So buyers in more established luxury markets don’t get too envious, Jaguar plans to offer them a limited number of Ultimate XJ sedans – 30, to be precise, earmarked for the U.S. at $155,000 per.