Edward Stephens gets the first look at Jaguar’s new style fuel efficient four-cylinder diesel.

Jaguar has thrown down the gauntlet to its German competitors with the most fuel efficient car it has ever built.

And, to prove the point, one of the new 2.2-litre, four-cylinder diesel XF models was driven from the Castle Bromwich plant where it was built to Munich where the car is being launched to the world’s motoring press on one tank of fuel.

In fact there were still a few litres left in the tank when the car arrived after its 816-mile journey, having averaged 57mpg.

Not bad for a car of this size.

In some ways production of a four-cylinder diesel Jaguar is all the more remarkable as, for years, the British car maker refused to contemplate ever using a diesel engine as it “didn’t match the Jaguar image”. When it finally relented it was a 2.7-litre six-cylinder unit that went into an XF.

Now it’s gone one stage further with a much more compact, four cylinder diesel to address a rapidly expanding market for smaller diesel engines.

The new car, available from September, is expected to account for 43 per cent of all XF sales. It will boost production at Castle Bromwich from the 12,687 XFs built last year to more than 20,000 in 2012.

The introduction of the new engine also marks a new look XF, both for this smaller diesel and its big brother the 3.0-litre, not to mention the petrol derivatives.

The launch of the original XF early in 2008 marked a sea change in Jaguar design strategy. It finally closed the door on the more traditional Jaguar shape that had evolved over the years in favour of a radical new body which has proved to be an award-winning best-seller.

Now Jaguar design guru Ian Callum has waved his magic wand over the car again and given it an even more striking image.

Effectively the car has an all-new front end. The bold new look features new slim headlights with dramatic LED daylight running light strips sitting either side of the larger, more upright grille. The deeper front bumper sections with three air dams all make the car look much more macho, with far more road presence, as do the new vents set into the front wings.