We collect the car in Stuttgart, a hilly working city in the south-west of Germany. I arrive early on a Thursday morning on flight 918. The number tickles me more than it should but for the fact that Stuttgart is also the home of Porsche and the 918 Spyder. Who says the Germans don’t have a sense of humour?

I meet the XE for the first time parked outside an airport hotel. It’s hard to miss: it’s a grey day, there are grey buildings and parked around them are cars in about 49 or so different shades of grey. The only splashes of colour come from the red of the enormous Bosch logo on the sides of one of the airport buildings – and the XE.

I’ve seen the model countless times at recent motor shows and heard many a Jaguar executive talk about it, but now I’m on my own as I get in this XE and take it on the road for the first time. The first thing I do, as I imagine a lot of business drivers of this car will too, is connect my phone to the new InControl infotainment system. It’s a simple, fuss-free process, but even better is the fact that this is finally a new system, meaning the archaic and outdated infotainment system that preceded it is no more.

The first entry I punch into the sat-nav is the aforementioned Königstrasse, which we visit via a sneaky picture opportunity at one of Daimler’s city headquarters. The security guards there take it all in good spirits. Also en route is the hilly Eugensplatz, with its two tram lines running down the middle and a school at the top where we turn around for runs up and down the hill for the benefit of the photographer.

Here, unlike with the younger audience we meet later at Königstrasse, the XE causes a stop-the-traffic moment as the teenagers take pictures of it on their camera phones. Some get a better view by standing on the zebra crossing, blocking the road and adding more traffic to the school run. I’m sure the locals are delighted.

Drawing a crowd
At Königstrasse, the crowds eventually arrive to pore over the XE. Two policemen in their E-Class estate drive to within 20 metres of us but don’t get out to ask why we’ve driven a car into their pedestrian area. Instead, they have a good look for a couple of minutes before driving off again, leaving us undisturbed.

The last stop in the middle of Stuttgart is the impressive Mercedes-Benz museum, a futuristic-looking building built of metal and glass. It’s something you hope that Jaguar, with such a strong heritage of its own, will one day emulate. I’m sure the group of visitors would include the elderly Swedish gentlemen I encounter who’ve just visited the museum. Each turns out to be a Jaguar owner and they jump at the chance to sit in the new XE.

As I head out of town, something catches my eye that doesn’t fit with the grey, industrial dourness. It’s an open-air events area that’s home to the Cannstatter Wasen festival – essentially a spring version of Oktoberfest. We park next to what appears to be a House of Horrors – an enormous structure that has some genuinely terrifying details and which is awe-inspiring in its sheer size and the thoroughness of its intricate design.

House of Horrors
I fail to get a reaction to the XE from the 20ft-high, evil-looking giant standing outside the House of Horrors, nor from his shorter mate and the two chaps hanging from the sides. However, the Hall of Fame, a legal graffiti wall that’s built into the Cannstatter Wasen, offers the chance for the Virgin Mary to say a prayer for the XE’s success.

Our last stop in this area is Solitude Castle. It sounds like an ITV game show but in fact was once the home of a duke fond of contemplation. Dog walkers and families now frequent the place. One labrador walker tells me the car is “nice”, although perhaps he’ll be waiting for the anticipated canine-friendly estate version.

The autobahn that runs between Stuttgart and Munich is the A8, a road that doesn’t fit the usual autobahn stereotype. The section we travel on is a 150-mile frustration of road works and lowered speed limits that offers precious few opportunities to really stretch the 335bhp supercharged V6 in our S-spec XE test car. We hit the road at rush hour, but at dusk the impeccable driving manners of the German autobahn users are momentarily forgotten as they hover in the outside lane to get a better look at this bright red thing on British registration plates.

En route to Ingolstadt
Day turns to night, grey weather gives way to rain. We leave the A8 before Munich to divert north to Ingolstadt, with the sole mission of snapping the XE outside the vast Audi Forum, which includes a museum.

It’s cold, dark and wet as we pull up outside the Audi Forum, but at least its lights are on. Of course, I’ve come inadequately dressed for the conditions, so I remain in the comfort of the car as Achim takes his pictures. I get a fright as two chaps appear at the passenger’s window wanting to peer in, although not as big a fright as any motorists driving through the neighbouring traffic lights as Achim’s flash gun goes off. They probably think they’ve been caught by a speed camera.

The two men – probably Audi workers, given their closeness to the Audi building and distance from any other kind of civilisation – know all about the XE and remark that it is “even more beautiful than the Mercedes C-Class”.
However, they don’t offer an opinion on how it compares with the new Audi A4, which is due to be revealed in a matter of months.

The following morning the grey clouds remain, so the chance of more photography south of Munich towards the Alps holds more appeal than mixing it in Munich’s sodden Friday morning rush hour.

In sight of Starnberger
By the time we reach a collection of pretty villages, among them a place called Starnberger See, and the wide, winding roads that link them, the sun miraculously decides to appear, meaning a visit to a car wash is in order to prettify the XE for the remaining pictures. I can’t decide if the one we end up in is incredibly old-fashioned or bafflingly futuristic. It is attached to the end of a shop and looks like a cross between a garage and a climatic chamber. It costs €17, so I trust the XE will emerge box-fresh.

Fortunately, it does, and now hairpin-filled roads in the forest take us to our penultimate stop: the delightful town of Murnau am Staffelsee, which has cobbled streets and is overlooked by the magnificent Alps.

There’s a more enthusiastic, cosmopolitan and touristy audience here, most of whom reach for their camera phones to capture the red car on English numberplates that looks less subtle than ever in this most
olde-worlde setting.

The spring sunshine gives way to a hailstorm. We decide to head back towards the airport, but not before a final stop at a motorway service area,where half a dozen Polish truck drivers are the latest to do the now familiar ‘point, stare, camera phone’ routine.

Homeward bound
Flying home (sadly not on flight 918, 911 or any equivalent famous German car name), I’m left to ponder whether we ticked off our three-strong checklist. Points two and three were taken care of, what with a mighty road trip and some friendly door-stepping of the German big three.

As for the big one, just how did people react to the XE? The car was definitely a head-turner, although I’m sure some of that was down to its bright colour, British plates and the fact that the steering wheel was on the ‘wrong’ side.

Whatever – the truth is that Germany noticed the car. People felt compelled to stop and take a look, discuss it, point it out to their friends and companions and even take a picture of it. You can bet they’d have told others about what they saw that day, too. That’s something I just can’t see happening with your average German executive saloon, no matter how new it may be.