Jaguar is well underway in the development of its next-generation XJ saloon and despite the company’s financial hardship the car is still on track for a debut in the second half of next year. For the current XJ, Jaguar looked to its past for inspiration and this definitely hurt its sales, especially when compared to rivals like the Mercedes Benz S-Class and BMW 7-series, which have shunned conservative styling in favor of a much more dynamic look.

Jaguar won’t be making the same mistake again. This time around designers are going for a more radical look, borrowing lines from the XF but with even more aggression. However, it isn’t just the styling department kicking it up a gear as the new XJ is also expected to benefit from some very advanced powertrain features.

Thanks to a £307 million loan from the European Investment Bank announced last week, Jaguar, together with Land Rover, will develop a raft of new hybrid technologies for its future models. While Land Rover is expected to use a more conventional hybrid system like the one in the Toyota Prius, where both an electric motor and internal combustion engine drive the wheels, the system planned by Jaguar will be similar to the set-up in the upcoming Chevrolet Volt.

According to Autocar, Jaguar will launch a plug-in hybrid XJ in 2011 or about one year after the debut of the new model. The plug-in hybrid system will use an electric motor running on lithium-ion batteries to drive the wheels and a compact internal combustion engine used solely to top up the batteries.

With this combination, the plug-in hybrid XJ is expected to have an electric range of 30 miles and a fuel-economy of 47mpg (5.0L/100km). Also working on the project is a number of British engineering groups, including Lotus Engineering, MIRA and Caparo.

For more details on the next-gen XJ, check out our previous story by clicking here.

Spy shots: 2011 Jaguar XJ

2011 Jaguar XJ spy video