2007 Bentley Continental Gt Mulliner Black Low Mile on 2040-cars

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Lamborghini could be sold or spun off from the Volkswagen Group

Volkswagen is reportedly considering a sale or stock listing for its high-end Lamborghini brand. The German automaker is looking to fold the Italian supercar brand into a separate legal entity, reports Bloomberg, which cites "people familiar with the matter" who don't want to be identified "because the deliberations are confidential and no decisions have been made." Any of this sound familiar? The goal of spinning off Lamborghini would be to stockpile more cash and other resources for VW's massive planned push into electric vehicles. Back in March, reports circulated that Volkswagen's "Vision 2030" corporate plan might include plans to focus on the brand's core brands — VW, Audi and Porsche. That means the futures of fringe players like Lamborghini, Bentley, Bugatti, motorcycle brand Ducati and design firm Italdesign (and note this isn't a comprehensive list of brand's under the expansive VW Group umbrella) are up in the air. VW, according to the report, is targeting a market value of $220 billion, which is a big jump from the brand's current $89 billion valuation. Bloomberg pegged Lamborghini's valuation at around $11 billion back in August, buoyed by sales and profits generated by the introduction of the Urus sport utility vehicle. On the flip side, Lamborghini is currently grappling with how best to update its supercar lineup in the face of ever-increasing emissions regulations.

Bentley warns its 6.0-liter W12 engine won't survive beyond 2026

Bentley confirmed it will only sell plug-in hybrid and electric models by 2026, so its W12 engine will either be axed. Autoblog learned from a company spokesperson that the latter solution has been chosen. "No more W12," a representative replied when we asked what the future holds for the engine. It's a tectonic shift for Bentley, which proudly calls itself one of the industry's largest manufacturers of 12-cylinders. What remains to be seen is when the 6.0-liter will retire. Jan-Henrik Lafrentz, Bentley's board member for finance, affirmed there is "a lot of mileage left in [the W12]," which suggests it's not going away in the coming days, weeks, or months. Its days are undoubtedly numbered, however, which shows the British firm isn't afraid to make difficult decisions to keep up with regulations and market demand. It illustrated this point well when it axed the Mulsanne, its flagship model in the 2010s, earlier in 2020. Pivoting toward electric powertrains gives it an opportunity to return to the segment; sedans normally return better range than comparable SUVs because they tend to be lighter and more aerodynamic. Will it? Executives didn't say a comeback is imminent, but they didn't rule it out, either. "The market for big sedans is interesting. It has changed a lot over the past 20 years. It's not in a growth phase. While we have a great heritage in that space, we have a perfect sedan with the Flying Spur, so let's see what evolves as we release and reveal our electric car strategy," said company boss Adrian Hallmark. Bentley's first series-produced electric car is tentatively due out in 2025. Built on a new platform, it will be the first in a full range of EVs, and the company pledged to phase out the internal combustion engine by 2030.

Bentley designer hints at even faster Continental GT3-R

Does Bentley have room in its Continental GT lineup for an even more extreme version than the new GT3-R? Luc Donckerwolke seems to think so. Speaking with Autocar, the Bentley design chief suggested that an even more performance-focused Continental GT could be in the works, potentially ditching the heavy all-wheel drive system in an effort to further reduce weight, improve handling and drop even more ticks off the 0-60 time that's already down to a best-yet 3.6 seconds in the GT3-R.
To borrow a page from the same playbook used not only by sister-companies Audi and Porsche but also by Renault and Jaguar (to name just a few), we'll tentatively call it the Continental GT3-RS. Whatever the name, though, power would likely come from an even more potent version of the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 co-developed with sister-company Audi. Considering that engine already produces 500 horsepower in the Continental GT V8, 521 hp in the V8 S and 572 hp in the GT3-R, we could be looking at as much as 600 horses to make it the most powerful V8 model to date. With that much juice, it would even eclipse some of the W12 models that start at 567 hp in the core Continental GT and range up to the 616 hp in the Speed, which currently ranks not only as the most powerful Conti yet, but also the fastest road car Bentley has ever made.
Donckerwolke says that Bentley has already sold the entire production run for the Continental GT3-R and that customers are already clamoring for something more focused. Younger buyers are likely to be even further drawn to the brand by the ne-plus-ultra Conti, especially if the racing team advanced from its current fifth place in the Blancpain Endurance Series standings.