2016 Jaguar XF revealed

A silly stunt above the River Thames in London is a reflection of the biggest new-car overhaul in the history of Jaguar.

An all-new mid-sized XF was driven on a high-wire across the capital's waterway in a costly preview that mirrors the optimism of an all-new Jaguar lineup.

The next XF - the current car is into runout in Australia, with an F-Sport model coming next month - has more lightweight materials, improved engines including Jaguar's new Ingenium powerplants, improved suspension, a cabin upgrade and even an available 825-watt Meridian sound system.

Jaguar will have easily the strongest and most-diverse lineup in the company's history

With the baby XE nearly ready to go, a facelift of the flagship XJ is close, and now the XF and F-Pace coming along, Jaguar will have easily the strongest and most-diverse lineup in the company's history.

In addition, there is the Discovery Sport from sister brand Land Rover, as well as the creation of Jaguar Land Rover Financial Services in Australia.

"If you look at the next 18 months, there is a hell of a lot going on. And beyond," says the newly-appointed managing director of Jaguar Land Rover Australia, Matt Wiesner. "We've got Discovery Sport, XE, a facelift XJ, a new XF, an F-Pace."

The newcomers are still only on the waiting list for Australia, with no details on price or exact timing after the Sport. "We've been writing around 30 deals a week for the Discovery Sport for the past couple of months. I believe we will do more than 1000 Land Rovers this month, which is the first time since the 1990s. So, generally, the business is pretty strong." But it should really boom with the XE, the first true baby Jaguar.

"We flow into XE for on-sale in September. We know where we want o price it, but we're mindful of what's going on in the segment. There's been a lot of re-positioning of the German three. We're going to be pretty quiet until it settles down.

"Where we are and what the vehicle represents, we're planning a fantastic package. So hopefully they will have settled down on their various attacks." The XJ is next to launch, with promised improvements on various fronts including back-seat space.

"XJ will definitely be before the end of the year, maybe a little earlier. We're just waiting for a confirmation of production dates," says Wiesner. "It's the MY16 car. It's not dramatic changes, but it's enough to give it a tweak inside with lots of new technology."

Then comes the XF, which is the first total overhaul of the mid-sized Jaguar since it arrived to drive the brand into its current growth spurt. "For XF, we're looking into the new year," Wiesner confirms.

"We're just into managing the runout of the current car because it has been doing two jobs. It's had a foot in the 3 Series class, but with the XE coming we have to make sure it's back in the right segment.

"It's a unique runout. We're not making them cheaper, but we're working it back to the correct position. "We'll roll out a limited edition called the R-Sport version next month. It dials up all the dynamic stuff across four drivetrains. It's about adding value over the next few months."

Wiesner says the changes to the cars will be matched by improvements across the rest of the company. "We've got a lot to do around this next phase of the business. It's going to be a heck of a couple of years of change," he says.

"This week we've got the launch of Jaguar Land Rover Financial Services. In light of how that whole market works, we haven't been good in that space. It's one thing having all these nice products, but we need to have the right package. It's very important for Jaguar customers, especially."