JAGUAR looks likely to sell out of its first 12 months' supply of the new S-type to the UK market before the car reaches the showrooms on March 24. Orders for more than seven months' sales have already been processed and around a further 27,000 potential customers have declared an interest in the Coventry company's rival to the Mercedes-Benz C-class and BMW's 5-series.

'We're holding solid orders with deposits on almost 5,000 examples. This car is already an outstanding success. It has had such an impact that we are confident sales will explode over the next few months,' said UK operations director Andrew Lester. Corporate buyers account for 35% of the firm order bank for the car.

But Lester said: 'I suspect this will change dramatically as the S-type goes on to the policy lists and in the weeks following launch. Initially, the corporate sector will take take 65% of UK supply - but after seeing the predicted Emmox figures on residual values (56% after three years/60,000 miles) that proportion could rise to 80%'.