2013 Jaguar XF and XJ announced with all-wheel drive

Jaguar's cars had one glaring omission so far: all-wheel drive. This isn't something anyone bothers about in a country like India, but in places where winters mean a few inches of snow, a big, powerful rear-drive sedan can be rendered all but useless by the lack of grip. The 2013 year model range for the XJ and XF now addresses that shortcoming, with AWD being offered with the 3.0-litre supercharged petrol V6 only for the moment.

The engine range changes slightly; the naturally-aspirated V8 is now available only in the XJL Portfolio. All the other variants that offered the engine are now running the new supercharged 3.0-litre with 340bhp and 450Nm. The XF's new base engine is a 240bhp, 340Nm 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine. It will take the XF to 100kmph in 7.5 seconds thanks to the eight-speed ZF automatic transmission that is now standard across the range of both models. They also get paddle shifts, a welcome addition, and all engines except the 2.0-litre get stop/start technology as standard.

The all-wheel drive has a rear-drive bias but can transfer up to 50 per cent of the torque to the front axle. It also has a winter mode with a 30/70 torque split. 

Jaguar has also moved away from Bowers & Wilkins to Meridian. The 'cheap' audio option from Meridian is a 380 Watt, 14-speaker unit. If you're an audiophile, splurge on the 825Watt, 20 speaker system. Along with great sound, it offers bluetooth streaming, a 30GB hard drive, a single slot CD player, a virtual changer that can upload up to ten CDs, HD radio, aux jacks and two USB ports!

Prices for India haven't been announced yet, but we expect the new models to go on sale by the end of this year. They will be presented to the world at the Paris Motor Show in September.