Geneva motor show 2012: Top 10 cars - Jaguar XF Sportbrake

Congratulations to Jaguar, who proved at Geneva that it’s possible to design a really appealing, exciting-looking estate, while retaining enough practicality to take on rivals from Germany.

We’re not about to say that the Jaguar XF Sportbrake has the space to embarrass the Mercedes E-Class Estate – because, frankly, nothing this side of Wembley Arena does. Nonetheless Jag’s engineers have come up with a good-looking package whose load capacity is a match for those of the Audi A6 Avant and BMW 5 Series Touring.

The XF Sportbrake will be offered with 2.2- and 3.0-litre diesel engines when sales start in October. It gets self-levelling suspension as standard, and the rear seats fold flat (and easily, thanks to a remote handle system).

It’s just a pity that it’s taken Jaguar such a long time to give the car the green light. We can’t wait to try this one on the road.

Bentley EXP 9 F
Audi A3
Renault Zoe
Seat Toledo
Nissan Invitation
Mercedes A-Class
Ford Kuga
Fiat 500L
Volvo V40

John McIlroy

See also: All Geneva motor show 2012 news