Looking towards an uncertain future, prestige car maker Jaguar launched its latest model, the XF at the Frankfurt motor show yesterday.

Bibiana Boerio, the company’s managing director, presented the car, which Jaguar hopes will help maintain the brand's success.

Jaguar has been put up for sale by its owner Ford who are looking to offset losses of $12.7 billion last year.

So important is the XF to the success of the brand that it was the only model on Jaguar’s stand at Frankfurt’s Internationale Automobil Ausstellung (IAA), the world’s largest motor show.

The XF range incorporates Jaguar’s traditional values of performance, luxury and style alongside 21st-century aesthetics and technology, including ultra-rapid shift-by-wire gear changing. The replacement for the S-Type, it is certainly not another retro-Jag; only something of the original XJ6 about its big radiator grille and the undulations of its bonnet are there as tentative links to the past.

The XF will compete for market share with the Audi A6, BMW 5-series and Mercedes E Class when it goes on sale in March, with prices expected from £33,900 to £54,900.