But they're likely to become rather more popular now that there's a more economical option. And one at a price €5,000 or so lower than the previous entry model.
Four years in from the model's arrival, there's been what Jaguar's design people call a 'major freshening'. Something rather more than just tweaking bumper and lights. Actually, everything forward of the A-pillar is new. A more sculpted bonnet. New wings. A deeper grille, set more straight-up than the original. New lights that are much sexier, more high tech, and with distinctive 'J-blade' LED daylight running lights incorporated.
There are larger chrome 'blades' in the lower air intakes, and bigger vertical vents in the front wings.
At the back the tail-lights have been changed, and the bumper. A modified chrome character strip across the boot lid now doesn't have the Jaguar name on it, the brand identification being left entirely to the 'leaper' cat image.
The XFR supercar version gets some more aggressive treatment, making it look more like the wolf it is than a wolf in sheep's wool.
They have worked around the inside too, adding a certain amount of extra class to to the materials, tightening up the fit and finish. A new 7" touchscreen shows off higher definition and more colourful graphics. A line of hard buttons underneath it now offer a more direct selection of some of the key elements previously needing screen menus to access.
So all in all, a fair bit to mark the move of the XF into its fourth year. But the most significant changes are in the power trains.
And in many markets the most significant of these is the arrival of the 2.2 diesel four. The third generation of the engine already familiar from the Land Rover Freelander, it has been substantially re-engineered for duty in the XF. It punches 190hp, 450Nm of torque, fits in Ireland's Band C for tax purposes. And it drives quite respectably, as far as I could judge in a brief but intense first drive near Munich. It is, and the makers emphasise, the most economical Jaguar ever built.
I also drove the other extreme, the 510hp 5.0 V8 petrol XFR. Totally designed for performance, it happily swooped along winding country road and autobahns, and gurgled fuel at a rate which had a quarter tank gone after just 79kms, which might be expected when it can sprint to 100km/h in less than five seconds.
And in between, like the Teddy Bears' porridge, there was the familiar 275hp 3.0 S V6 diesel, just right for the car in my view. With improved fuel consumption without any drop in power or performance, this one is now Band D instead of the E it has been in the current XF.
A new 8-speed automatic gearbox is part of the more frugal use of fuel, as is a stop-start system on the 2.2. These a just a few of the technological tinkerings which the 2012 XF range will show off when they arrive here from September.
As is my practice, I don't offer full reviews of a car from a couple of spins on its international launch. But suffice to say that the XF has been subtly moved upwards, and I came away from the experience with a strong sense that Jaguar is going in a better place to make more of the conquest sales it needs for success.
There's more down the line. In the next five years, Jaguar Land Rover will be introducing no less than 40 new products. These will include new Jaguars aimed at expanding the brand's footprint both in extra markets and new segments.
It promises to be fun. Just as I'll have fun with the upgraded XF when I get to play with one in Ireland in the autumn.
