2007 Bentley Continental Gt on 2040-cars

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Bentley orders are up by 50% thanks to Chinese buyers

LONDON — Bentley began the year with 50% more orders than the start of last year and built more luxury cars in January than the same time in 2020 as China boosted demand despite challenges from the pandemic, its boss told Reuters on Wednesday. The Volkswagen-owned brand said it had not faced major disruption from Britain's exit from the European Union nor from a shortage of semi-conductor chips, which has forced some automakers to halt or reduce production. Based in Crewe, northern England, the over century-old marque made a small profit in 2020, when its factory was forced to close as Britain entered its first national lockdown, and hopes to build on that this year. "The order bank at the beginning of this year was 50% higher than it was at the beginning of last year," Chief Executive Adrian Hallmark said in an interview. "China, by far, is the most outstanding performance in the world in respect of level of orders compared with normal expectations." The firm sold 11,206 cars in 2020. Related Video:

Bentley releases official Continental GT3 details [w/video]

It's been almost a year since we first laid eyes on the Bentley Continental GT3, but this race-bred Continental GT is finally ready to show off its moves. After debuting last year at the Paris Motor Show, the Continental GT3 makes its racing debut today at the Goodwood Festival of Speed before competing in the FIA Blancpain Series next year.
While Bentley released some of the car's details last month, we now have all we need to know about this car such as its curb weight of less than 2,866 pounds, its 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 packing 600 horsepower and four-way adjustable suspension dampers. The exterior of the car stays true to the design of the Continental GT but has been given a once over to improve aero, and the interior has been stripped down to the bare essentials for racing. This doesn't mean that all luxury was thrown out the window, though, as the Continental GT3's steering wheel, door pulls and seat are all covered in hand-stitched leather. Scroll down for the official press release as well as a video showing the car in action.

Volkswagen profit jumps as it warns of a cooling auto market

FRANKFURT, Germany — Volkswagen says its profits jumped 44% in the third quarter thanks to a more profitable mix of vehicles in its lineup but warned that global car markets are slowing more than expected and lowered its forecast for annual sales. After-tax profit rose to $4.42 billion (3.98 billion euros) as revenues rose 11% to $68.27 billion (61.42 billion euros). The sales margin of 7.8% exceeded the goal of 6.5-7.5% as vehicles bringing higher profits took a larger share of sales. The Wolfsburg-based automaker pointed to the headwinds facing the industry by saying that it expects "vehicle markets will contract faster than previously anticipated in many regions of the world." It said sales would be "on a level" with last year's record of 10.8 million vehicles. Previously it had expected a slight increase. The company said its profits would be in the lower end of its forecast range. Global automakers are facing a slowdown in sales amid disputes over trade and from pressure in the European Union and China to develop and sell low-emission vehicles that require heavy investment in new technology. Ford and Renault have issued profit warnings in recent days, while Daimler, maker of Mercedes-Benz luxury cars, lost money in the second quarter and is expected to outline a cost-cutting strategy for investors on Nov. 14. Volkswagen is leading the push into electric vehicles in Europe by launching its ID.3 battery-powered compact car at prices it says will make zero local emission vehicles a mass phenomenon. The company was able to increase earnings in the quarter despite an 18% rise in spending on research and development.