2020 Bentley Continental Gt V8 First Edition on 2040-cars

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Bentley considering diesel engine for new SUV

Turns out, in case you didn't know, the rich are just like regular people. They too are concerned about the environment, even when tooling around town in their super-luxurious Bentleys. So the automaker is weighing the idea of offering a diesel engine in its SUV offering, which could help satisfy customers' demands for more fuel-efficient engines.
Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Schreiber told Autoblog in a roundtable interview at the Geneva Auto Show that the automaker is researching whether or not a diesel engine makes sense for the brand. Bentley, owned by the Volkswagen Group, could in theory use a diesel engine from anywhere in the Volkswagen Group family. We at Autoblog have hopes they'll revive the V10 TDI used in the VW Touareg until 2010, but ever-stricter emissions laws would likely make that problematic.
But rich people aren't so much like us that they'll be worried about petty things like pricing. Schreiber admitted the diesel engine could be a $15,000 option, which he said customers would probably find "acceptable." Given that the cheapest Bentley today starts at $177,000, typical customers probably won't be diddling around worrying about an extra 15 grand.

Bentley Continental GT celebrates 20 years in production with one-off

Another automotive birthday this year: The Bentley Continental GT is getting a cake for being 20 years in production. The superluxe GT segment was neither new nor unpopulated when a Cypress Green Continental GT with VIN 20001 came off the production line in Crewe, England, in December 2003. It's just that nothing else combined as much speed, handling, and all-out luxury as the Bentley. That coupe also introduced the world to a 6.0-liter W12 engine making 550 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque back when the four-seat Ferrari 456M was getting 442 hp and 406 lb-ft. from its V12 and the two-seat Ferrari 575M was making "just" 508 hp and 434 lb-ft. from the same engine. With the 20th anniversary being celebrated with China dishware, it's fitting that Bentley used Auto Shanghai to introduce a one-off celebration in the form of a Continental GT S. This one comes in Magnetic Dark Grey Metallic over 22-inch black chrome and black wheels. Red accent lines embellish the mirror caps and form a hem around the base of the coupe. Inside, specialty division Mulliner's made a unique arrangement of Beluga (black) and Hotspur (red) leather against piano black trim. The bi-finish fascia puts Granite Stone above Grand Black veneer, separated by red pinstriping. Special badging and laser etching appears in places like the treadplates, center console, and veneers.  The carmaker plans events in the Western hemisphere at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July, a global relay of Continental GTs crossing three continents to pass a custom Bentley baton. There will also be drive hubs at the HQ in Crewe and in Geneva, Switzerland where invited guests can drive all three Continental generations, the first- and second-generation examples coming from the Bentley Heritage Collection. The culmination comes in another one-off Continental GT inspired by the first unit produced that will debut during Monterey Car Week.    

VW Group shareholders demand Bentley return to profit

The Volkswagen Group's main shareholders are giving British ultraluxury division Bentley an ultimatum to turn around its finances and start earning a profit. The Piech and Porsche families did not say what would happen if the brand fails to return to the black, but they said it should happen within two years. "The important thing is for every (VW Group) brand to generate a reasonable contribution again," Wolfgang Porsche told the subscription-only Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, as relayed by Automotive News. "That is not currently the case at Bentley, and we are not satisfied." Volkswagen Group has not yet issued its report for full-year 2018, but Bentley had lost the equivalent of $157 million through the first nine months on an 11 percent decline in sales. In 2017, Bentley sold 10,566 vehicles globally, with revenue down 9.2 percent from 2016. VW Group apparently cites the slow rollout of the Continental GT and the British pound's lower value amid Brexit talks, which makes the many parts it sources from continental Europe more expensive, as among the reasons. A German study last summer claimed that Bentley lost a little more than $19,000 on each car. Adrian Hallmark started as CEO in February 2018 after heading global brand strategy for Jaguar. Bentley in 2018 released the all-new 2019 Continental GT after a nine-month delay, and it revealed the GTC convertible version in Los Angeles. Hallmark has said 2019 "is a conversion year to a better business model" after a year plagued by problems that also included European WLTP certification. He announced last year the luxury brand would no longer build new sports cars, though the brand says it's still committed to the idea of the two-door GT. Bentley has also said it wants electrified versions of all its models by 2025, which will be an expensive proposition and will likely including plug-in hybrid versions of current models.