New Jaguar XF: your first look

Next week, you'll be able to see proper pictures of the brand new, second-generation XF saloon, Jaguar's rival to the BMW 5-Series, Mercedes-Benz E-Class and Audi A6. Until then, here are a couple of teaser shots.

The MkII XF is, we're told, all new, and is the second Jag to use the company's new aluminium-intensive architecture - like the one that sits at the heart of the new XE junior saloon. There is promise of benchmarks for weight and efficiency, as well as the ability to achieve a heady 70mpg. In a mid-size business saloon. Not bad.

Jaguar's design chief Ian Callum also promises the new XF will be pretty, too. Prettier than the 5er, E-Class and A6, in any case. "I believe the all-new XF will be the best looking car in its class," Callum says, "Elegant, handsome and with proportions that imbue a great sense of integrity."

Fighting talk. We'll have more next week, where Jaguar will launch the XF saloon in a very peculiar way. British stuntman Jim Dowdell, who's worked on the Bond, Bourne and Indiana Jones films, will drive the Jag across two 34mm-diameter wires suspended high over water in London.

Why? To highlight "the lightweight and agile credentials of the new XF", we're told. Yep, a high wire crossing over water. Following this stunt, Jaguar will showcase the XF at the New York Motor Show at the end of the month...