A total of 4,421 vehicles were sold by Jaguar UK in the key British sales month of September.

Sales of the XJ range were up by 155% - more than double last year's September volume - with the latest 2.7 twin-turbo diesel version accounting for nearly 67% of the total.

This performance by the 2.7 litre twin-turbo diesel XJ proves that it is now firmly established in the diesel sector of the premium F Segment.

Jaguar UK has sold almost 2,000 XJ models so far this year, including more than 50% diesel versions, contributing to an increase for the model of 31% versus 2005. Jaguar has also recently announced the introduction of its long wheel base XJ diesel which is due to arrive in showrooms from early next year.

"We are particularly pleased that our UK sales volumes continue to increase at an unparalleled rate in an increasingly competitive market environment," commented Jaguar UK's Managing Director, Geoff Cousins.  "Important new models, – such as the XK sports car and XJ diesel models, are major factors in attracting new customers to the Jaguar brand. It is also encouraging that the S-TYPE Diesel is already establishing itself as the car of choice in the corporate market".

Following the success of the recently introduced XK sports car, the new supercharged XKR is hot on its heels, with advance orders of 1,500 vehicles globally (800 in the UK market alone) even though it doesn’t arrive in showrooms until November.

The XK continues to be one of the most dominant cars in a fairly static sector up 9% this year with sales increased by 74% year-to-date on 2005 and 72% month-on-month.