In July, the Royal Navy support vessel, RFA Lyme Bay, delivered (free of charge) a container carrying the new flag car for the Governor. Eurocar Cayman Ltd has prepared the car and will present it to the Governor at their Shedden Road showroom at 12 noon on Wednesday 5 August.

The new, British built, flag car is a 2015 Jaguar XJ in ‘Polaris white’. By purchasing through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office the Cayman Islands Government was able to secure a heavily discounted price for this new vehicle. With the free shipping, the value for money savings were considerable. This latest model Jaguar has a 3.0 litre V6 300i turbocharged diesel engine that delivers impressive economy and emissions performance for a car in this class.

The Governor’s flag car is the most prestigious vehicle in the Cayman Islands vehicle fleet. The new Jaguar replaces the current Lincoln Towncar which is beyond its economic life in the fleet.

Her Excellency the Governor said;

“I am delighted to be the first Governor to use the new flag car. Jaguar has been a leading British brand in the global motor industry since 1945. I am particularly pleased that Cayman Islands Government were able to replace the current uneconomic flag car with a vehicle that provides such good value for money.”

In Cayman, the Recommended Retail Price (RRP) of the 2015 Jaguar XJ is CI$124,950. By purchasing through the FCO, the CIG saved 57% on the RRP and paid CI$52,965 (the approximate local cost of a Ford Explorer).

Jaguar cars today are designed in Jaguar Land Rover’s engineering centres at the Whitley plant in Coventry and at their Gaydon site in Warwickshire, and are manufactured in Jaguar’s Castle Bromwich assembly plant in Birmingham with some manufacturing taking place in the Solihull plant.

In September 2013 Jaguar Land Rover announced plans to open a 100 million GBP (160 million USD) research and development centre in the University of Warwick, Coventry to create a new generation of vehicle technologies.