The wait is finally over. No, Jaguar hasn't found a new suitor yet (yes, our very own Tata Motors is in the fray), but its possible saviour has descended. The Jaguar XF saloon based on the concept first seen at the Detroit Motor Show earlier this year will grace the IAA Frankfurt Motor Show in a week's time. And boy, does it do justice to the concept, the kind that might force Ford to reconsider plans to sell the company.

Ford retreating from its plans might be a far-fetched idea, but then the car has a lot going for it. For starters, it replaces the S-Type, one of Jaguar's successful premium saloons and a very good one at that. When it was launched at the 1998 British Motor Show in Birmingham, the S-Type was touted as the saviour of the ailing luxury car manufacturer.

For all its Britishness, the S-Type's success was overshadowed by Jaguar's inability to convert fantastic concepts like the F-Type into production reality and was instead brought down by ill-thought out cars like the X-Type and the never-ending XJ. With the XF, Jaguar hopes to change its image once and for all, and by sticking close to the lines of the concept, round one seems to be in Jaguar's court.

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