Jaguar, one of the most prestigious British car makers, was founded as the Swallow Sidecar Company by Sir William Lyons in 1922 but its name was changed to Jaguar after the Second World War to avoid the negative connotations associated with the intials ‘SS’.

Jaguar’s fortunes started to improve when the latest-generation XK coupe was introduced in 2006, which was closely followed by BMW 5-Series rival, the XF saloon including an estate version, the XF Sportbrake, in 2012.

Until 2010 Jaguar’s XJ luxury saloon had remained fairly unchanged but the design changed radically to look more like the XF. The most spectacular addition is Jaguar’s most recent, namely the F-Type which was first launched as the F-Type Roadster (convertible) and then the F-Type Coupe followed.

Currently a subsidiary of Indian car manufacturer Tata, it is part of the Jaguar Land Rover business. Previously it was part of nationalised company British Leyland after a merger with the British Motor Corporation in 1968, but volume car maker Ford bought it in 1989.

Jaguar is now seen as a bona fide rival to the German brands, producing vehicles that look modern, perform and ride well and, more importantly, have a reliability record that will give peace of mind to luxury car buyers. Jaguar produces not only luxury and executive vehicles but also high performance versions of them including the XF R-S..