Shorn of its failed contract manufacturing arm, Carrozzeria Bertone, which has been sold to Fiat, and with Nuccio's widow Lilli Bertone now firmly back behind the wheel, the famous Turinese company is firmly back on the automotive radar. Last year it presented the Pandion, a futuristic homage to Alfa Romeo's centenary, while this year Bertone is returning to the scene of another marque where it has achieved much acclaim in the past, Jaguar.

According to Bertone: "The B 99 projects Jaguar's classic style into the future with refined Bertone elegance, exploring a fascinating new form language with sleek lines and smooth volumes." The project was led by Bertone Design Director Mike Robinson.

The result of the project is a compact, four-door sedan (4.5 m long, 1.35 m tall, and 1.95 m wide) that fits into D-segment, thus projecting Bertone's take on a potential replacement for the X-Type model. Starting with a classic three-volume architecture, Bertone designers have shaped what they say is "a taut, muscular body with strong character, entirely constructed with handmade aluminum panels in true Italian coachbuilder tradition.

"The unique personality of the luxury sports sedan is emphasised by the sophisticated minimalism outside and in, with the exclusive use of prestigious materials inside the cockpit such as soft Italian leather, brushed aluminum and high-gloss African wood," adds Bertone, which has a long tradition of innovative and accomplished interiors for its concept showings. The styling direction is somewhat curious as it goes straight back to Jaguar's roots at a time when the British sports car manufacturer, now owned by India's Tata Motors, has invested much time and effort in jettisoning decades of its staid design language tradition in an effort to make the connection with a less elderly and conservative consumer base. While it is reported that Bertone developed the new concept car with input directly from Jaguar, it is unlikely to offer any clues towards potential future Jaguar design thinking, rather it more feels it is a reworking of the original XJ.

Interestingly Bertone will present not only the luxury sedan concept in Geneva, but also a full GT2 race version, saying that by doing so it will be "maintaining the exceptional double soul tradition of the Jaguar brand. While three impressions of the B99 have been revealed there is no glimpse as yet of the B99 GT2, Bertone saying only in a press release that it will feature "high speed aero appendages and aggressive graphics."

In terms of technological innovation, the B 99 will feature a "full hybrid long range power system tuned by Bertone Energy", probably the most interesting part of the equation as this is will be the first public product from the newest Bertone division to be formed that is dedicated to the area of renewable energy research. Bertone has been studying alternative powertrains for the past twenty years, with many examples including full electric extreme concept cars like the 1992 Blitz or 1994 Zer record car, which was the first full electric car to break the 300 km/h speed barrier in the world.