Upon its takeover of Jaguar, Ford had pledged £200 million for a programme of new models, though the X300's advancements over the XJ40 were more cosmetic than mechanical; Dymock says that "there was scarcely a feature or a component on the new XJ that betrayed a Ford connection, partly because it was a development of a concept more than 25 years old". Many thought that this was a good thing. The familiar profile remained unchanged, but the shapely XJ bonnet made a comeback and the headlights, bumpers and grille were redesigned. Whilst hardly as technically advanced or sophisticated as the aluminium-bodied Audi A8, also launched that year, or as dynamic to drive as the only-just replaced BMW 7-Series, or, despite Ford's efforts in the quality control department, as well built as the Mercedes S-Class, the X300 still had a faithful following amongst those that wouldn't have been seen in a German car. And it had a refined charm that none of its rivals could begin to emulate. However, it also had a newcomer to contend with: Japanese upstarts Lexus, who, despite being effectively the upmarket division of mainstream Toyota, managed to capture a large market share in the all-important US market with the huge, opulently-specified LS400. This was largely down to the brand's survey-topping customer service and excellent reliability - neither strong points for Jaguar.