(Octobr 30, 2009) MIAMI — The South Florida International Auto Show — known more commonly as the Miami Auto Show — has not reached the status of Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago or New York. But the Miami market is one of the most important in the country, and it's not surprising that Jaguar elected to use Miami for its first public showing in the U.S.

Yes, the XJ was shown earlier this year at Pebble Beach, but this is its first stop for the great automotive masses.

The XJ continues the new design theme penned by Jaguar Design Director Ian Callum that takes Jaguar in a modern direction while retaining enough Jaguar design heritage to distinguish it from its chief competitors, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi and Lexus.

Jaguar has decided to escape its "retro-themed" cars in favor of a modern design, and we agree with the decision. Callum has walked a fine line, but he pulled off the new sedan theme very nicely in last year's all-new mid-sized XF, the replacement for the S-Type.

The XJ carries the same theme in the larger sedan. It is gorgeous in pictures, and we discovered after several walk-arounds here that it is even more striking in person.
And much like the XF, the interior of the new XJ is stylish and as advanced as any car in the world.

Jaguar wanted to get the message out to its owners and prospective customers, and hundreds got the opportunity to look at and sit in an XJ at a cocktail party at Fontainebleau Hotel on Miami Beach the night before the Miami Auto Show opened.

The XJ was featured at the press event the morning the show opened on Oct. 23.

It will go on sale, starting at $72,000, this spring.

— Jim Meachen