JAGUAR has pledged that servicing costs for the new £33,150 Jaguar S-type will come to no more than £900 plus VAT over a three-year/60,000-mile operating cycle. The claim, based on six services at 10,000-mile intervals, was made by Jaguar's UK operations director, Andrew Lester, at the car's press launch in south-west France and will spearhead a drive for class-leading wholelife costs on the new range when it goes on sale on March 24.

He also stated that the fixed-price strategy may extend to other models in the Jaguar range in future. Meanwhile Emmox has quoted estimated residual values for the S-type 3.0 SE of 56.2% after three years/ 60,000 miles - a Mercedes-Benz E-class is quoted at 54.7%.

Such figures coincide with insurance ratings that start one group lower than the equivalent BMW 528i SE, with which the S-type has been closely benchmarked. Whereas the BMW sits in ABI group 16E, the entry-level 3.0 litre S-type manual, priced at £28,300 on the road, is in group 15E.

Commenting on the S-type's standard specification and aggressive value-for-money proposal, Lester said: 'We are confident that our new car offers class-leading levels of specification. Items such as alloy wheels, four airbags in the front, automatic climate control and eight-way power front seats are standard even on the entry model at over £2,600 less than the BMW 528i SE. In terms of the S-type 3.0 SE, our car is more like an SSE compared with the equivalent BMW.'