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In terms of news headlines, 2009 has begun rather as 2008 ended, with continuing and ever worsening forecasts for the UK and world economies in the foreseeable future. And, given that the car industry seems to be suffering more than most, I’m sure there will be many harbingers of doom out there all too keen to point out that Jaguar’s timing of the release of its all-new 5.0-litre V8 engines couldn’t have been worse. I’m sure there will be many at Jaguar too who would prefer to be unveiling new range-topping engines at a more prosperous time, but as the 5.0-litre AJ-V8 Gen III programme was given the green light in November 2005, you can forgive the fact that back then even those with the clearest economic crystal balls could not have seen what was coming. But even if the money men could have anticipated the present economic meltdown, I’d like to think that it would not have influenced the decision to say yes. Of course, had Jaguar only been developing its new V8 during the intervening period then, yes, the company would have very real cause for concern. Let’s face it, the number of people able to buy and run supercars such as the new XKR and XFR at present are relatively few. In fact, even in more prosperous times the number sold would not be great. But that’s missing the point.