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Bentley says 'emotional sensitivity' slowed sales in 2023

LONDON — British luxury carmaker Bentley on Tuesday reported a lower operating profit for 2023 after a weak economy and high interest rates hit sales, but the company said its performance had stabilized and new launches would boost it in 2024. "We had an uneven performance for the first time in about four years," CEO Adrian Hallmark told reporters. "Even though our customers can still afford our cars... there was a level of emotional sensitivity that slowed down demand." For those who leased rather than bought cars with a starting pre-tax price above 220,000 euros ($238,590), interest rates had led to a tripling in monthly fees last year, Hallmark said. He said the launch of four high-performance hybrids this year should spur sales as the company gears up to launch its first fully electric Bentley in 2026. Bentley is aiming for an all-electric model lineup by 2030, but Hallmark said its hybrids were likely to be on sale after that deadline as the company seeks to ensure a return on its substantial investment. The luxury automaker in January reported an 11% drop in sales for 2023 following a record year in 2022. The British luxury unit of Volkswagen posted an operating profit of 589 million pounds ($748 million) for 2023, down nearly 17% from 708 million pounds in 2022. Revenue was down 13% at 2.94 billion pounds from a year earlier and the company said its profit margin dropped to 20.1% from 20.9% in 2022 because of investments in new vehicles. Earnings/Financials Green Bentley Luxury

Bentley may develop 500-hp, all-electric sports car

At dinner during the recent press launch for the Bentley Bentayga, CEO Wolfgang Durheimer stood up to discuss potential directions for the Bentley brand. One of them could be an all-electric version of the EXP 10 Speed 6 concept first revealed at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show, Top Gear reports. According to Durheimer, the Speed 6 concept has received incredible customer response, summed up as, "Stop talking about it and build it." Yet the CEO says Bentley would want to do something even more interesting with the coupe, so an electric powertrain with anywhere from 400 to 500 horsepower is being developed. That's not to say we'll ever see it for sale, but the best minds in the company are working on it. Top Gear says that such a car would probably share innovations developed for the rather lovely Porsche Mission E concept we saw at Frankfurt, resulting in a range of around 300 miles and fast charging capability. Traditional engines would also be developed for those that prefer their Bentleys to play four-stroke combustion notes. The other direction - and if we're wagering we think this one is much more likely - would use the Bentayga platform but be a sharper, edgier take on a crossover. At that same dinner, Durheimer said response to the Bentayga has urged Bentley to increase its sales projections. That makes an even stronger case for the smaller crossover already being considered in January this year and reaffirmed in June. Top Gear thinks that would be an "SUV-coupe" with four doors and more performance. Whichever one gets the nod, it's expected to hit the road in the next three years. Related Video: Featured Gallery Bentley EXP 10 Speed 6 Concept: Geneva 2015 View 9 Photos News Source: Top GearImage Credit: Copyright 2015 Drew Phillips / AOL Green Rumormill Bentley Coupe Concept Cars Electric Future Vehicles Luxury Performance bentley bentayga wolfgang durheimer porsche mission e concept bentley crossover bentley exp 10 speed 6

Bentley reserves 99 Continental GT3-Rs for North America at $337k apiece

Whether they're powered by V8 or W12 engines, the Bentley Continental GT just keeps getting faster and faster. The new Continental GT Speed, for example, is the fastest road-going Bentley ever made, capable of reaching 206 miles per hour. And the Continental GT3-R is the quickest-accelerating Bentley yet, capable of hitting 60 in just 3.6 seconds.
In other words, if you want to get your hands on one, you'll need to act fast. Bentley is only making 300 examples of the GT3-R, but while it is said to have already sold out the entire production run, it has been kind enough to keep 99 examples on the side just for the North American market.
The road-going embodiment of the Continental GT3 racer, the GT3-R packs a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 tuned up to 572 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque. That makes it 72 hp and 29 lb-ft stronger than the base Continental GT V8, or 43 hp and 14 lb-ft more muscular than the GT V8 S, about on par with the W12 model but 54 hp and 89 lb-ft shy of the latest GT Speed. But thanks to its lighter weight (inherent in the eight-cylinder model and stripped of a further 220 pounds in the GT3-R), it trounces them all in the sprint to 60.