2006 Bentley Continental Flying Spur Mint And Cheap!!! 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 Flying Spur Mulliner Blackline Specification loses the chrome

Bentley's future is not as bright as its past — at least when we're talking about exterior trim. The blacked-out Blackline Specification package that the firm introduced on the Continental GT earlier in 2022 has been so popular that it's now available on the Flying Spur Mulliner. Unveiled on the sidelines of Monterey Car Week, the Flying Spur Mulliner Blackline Specification ditches nearly every piece of bright exterior trim. Designers replaced the chrome bits with gloss black trim and painted the door mirror caps in Beluga Black. The grille and the Winged B hood ornament keep some of their bright accents, and buyers can order black 22-inch wheels with polished pockets at an extra cost. Bentley left the interior untouched, meaning buyers can configure it to their liking. And, there are no mechanical modifications: The Blackline Specification package is offered on the hybrid-, V8-, and W12-powered variants of the Flying Spur Mulliner. In its quickest configuration, meaning with a twin-turbocharged, 626-horsepower 12-cylinder under the hood, the big sedan hits 60 mph from a stop in 3.7 seconds. Pricing for the Blackline Specification package hasn't been announced. We're guessing it's not cheap, but that's unlikely to deter buyers: Bentley announced that nearly 20% of Continental GT Mulliner buyers have ticked the Blackline Specification box since its introduction. At the other end of the Mulliner spectrum, the limited-edition Batur coupe is scheduled to make its debut during Monterey Car Week as well.

Audi spearheads development of an ultra-luxurious EV code-named Landjet

The rumors claiming Audi wants to release a model positioned above the A8, and the reports of an ongoing electric car development program called Artemis internally, have seemingly converged. Citing sources inside the carmaker, a German media outlet reported the firm is busily creating a super-luxurious EV code-named Landjet. Audi is leading the development process, but sister companies Bentley and Porsche will reportedly receive their own version of the Landjet. All three models will likely take the form of three-row SUVs with generous dimensions. They'll be so big that none of Audi's production facilities will be able to manufacture them, according to an anonymous insider who spoke with German newspaper Handelsblatt. Luckily, Volkswagen makes vans, too. It's too early to tell what will power the Landjets. Audi assigned some of its most brilliant engineers to Project Artemis, and the technology they develop will permeate the three EVs before trickling down into cheaper models in the group. Expect high performance, a high driving range, and semi-automated driving technology. If the report is accurate, the Landjet vehicles will enter production in Hanover, Germany, by the end of 2024. The facility currently makes the Volkswagen Transporter, which is a direct descendant of the rear-engined Bus sold for decades, and it will start manufacturing the production version of the ID.Buzz concept in the coming years. Volkswagen hasn't commented on the report, and car companies rarely address speculation, but its Commercial Vehicles division released a statement in November 2020 that confirms the Hanover site will begin building SUVs about halfway through the 2020s. It's a major shift for a factory normally tasked with manufacturing vans. "Our main plant in Hanover is becoming the production site for three completely new premium electric vehicles in the Group. These D-SUVs are genuine flagship projects: premium, 100% electric, and highly automated," said Carsten Intra, the head of Volkswagen's Commercial Vehicles division, in a statement. He added the firm will invest about 680 million euros (about $807 million) to build a new assembly line, among other upgrades.