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Weekly Recap: Bentley Bentayga leads luxury SUV charge at Frankfurt

The Bentley Bentayga is launching a new era of ultra high-end sport utility vehicles that will see luxury makers vie for the world's richest and most exclusive customers. The Bentayga is Bentley's first SUV, and it will formally debut next week at the Frankfurt Motor Show. It's loaded with Bentley's best technology and features, led by a 600-horsepower W12 engine. The mission is simple: stop giving up sales to other companies by not having an SUV in its portfolio. "It creates an entirely new category of ultra-luxury SUV, where there are currently few rivals," IHS Automotive analyst Ian Fletcher said in a report. But Bentley and the Bentayga will soon face stiff competition. Archrival Rolls-Royce will produce its own crossover to be built in England, though timing is unclear. Lamborghini has approved plans for a ute that will be assembled in Italy and launch in 2018. Even the sportier British brands are getting into the market. Aston Martin will make a crossover version of the DBX concept shown earlier this year in Geneva, and Jaguar is launching the F-Pace crossover, which will debut in Frankfurt. These new entries will invigorate a segment that's comprised of the Mercedes G63 AMG and the Land Rover Range Rover SV Autobiography, and Bentley is poised to grab a large share of it, Fletcher noted. IHS forecasts Bentayga sales could hit 3,000 units per year in 2017 and 2018, pushing total Bentley sales to more than 10,000 in the next few years. The vehicle will also get plug-in hybrid and diesel variants to widen its reach. The Bentayga is a sales grab, for sure, but Bentley took care to ensure the SUV remained true to the brand. It's laden with the top-shelf wood, leather, and metal, and it comes standard with an expansive panoramic glass roof. It also has intelligent features like electronic night vision and an optional responsive off-road system that can be configured to adapt to eight different settings. It's a different kind of Bentley, but it's a harbinger of things to come for the world's richest luxury makers. Other News & Notes Toyota debuts next-gen Prius Toyota revealed the next-generation of its iconic fuel-sipping hybrid, the 2016 Prius, at an event in Las Vegas. The car promises 10-percent gains in fuel efficiency, though actual figures – and even powertrain specifics – were not revealed. We estimate that could mean about 56 miles per gallon in city driving and 53 on the highway.

GM's MPG overstatement could affect 2 million vehicles

Late last week, GM admitted that three of its large SUVs fuel economy window stickers did not match their actual efficiency ratings, and so the vehicles couldn't be sold. The stickers on the 2016 Chevy Traverse, GMC Acadia, and Buick Enclave said their ratings were one to two miles per gallon better than they should have been. Officially, the number of affected vehicles sits at about 60,000. But Consumer Reports makes a good point: what's up with all of the previous model year SUVs that are basically the same vehicle? To wit: the 2016 model year vehicles are not substantially different than the 2015 or the 2014, or even going all the way back to 2007. On the EPA's fuel economy website, all of these older models will "have better stated fuel economy numbers than the new vehicles in GM's dealerships," Consumer Reports noted. CR's best point, and the one that makes the 60,000 number potentially grow to 2 million if all of the vehicles built on this platform are affected, is that "[i]t seems unlikely that the company would change the powertrain on these carryover models so late in their model cycles in a way that would cause a dramatic, negative impact on fuel economy." GM says that earlier model year SUVs are not affected and the EPA did not respond to CR's question about the potential for more discrepancies. We've seen automakers reverse course before, so if GM has to come out with a mea culpa soon, don't be surprised. GM is rushing corrected stickers to dealers so that the SUVs can be sold again, but a fix for the already-sold vehicles could be trickier to solve. Related Video: Related Gallery 2013 GMC Acadia View 16 Photos News Source: Consumer Reports Government/Legal Green Buick Chevrolet GMC Fuel Efficiency mpg gmc acadia chevy traverse

GM's redesigned full-size 2021 SUVs face delay over coronavirus

As General Motors works to conserve cash for the coronavirus pandemic, the automaker reportedly told suppliers that it is postponing development of several future vehicles. The situation may cause GM to delay the launch of the 2021 Cadillac Escalade, GMC Yukon, Chevrolet Tahoe and Chevrolet Suburban SUVs, which had been planned to roll out in April. The original launch plan for the redesigned full-size SUVs, which are some of the most profitable vehicles produced by GM, had called for production of the current models to end at its plant in Arlington, Texas, this week. After a retooling process, the redesigned SUVs were slated to begin production late in the month of April. In an email to suppliers viewed by Reuters and confirmed as authentic by GM, the automaker also said it was suspending development work on six future vehicle programs, including updates of the Chevrolet Equinox, GMC Terrain, Cadillac XT4, Bolt EV, Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra. GM said preproduction work on those programs would be pushed back to calendar year 2021, with most of the updated vehicles scheduled to be launched as 2022 models. According to the Detroit News, work has also been paused on the Chevy Camaro and a future version of the Corvette that has yet to be unveiled and wasn't planned for production during the 2020 calendar year. Last week, the automaker told employees and suppliers it was delaying work on some future vehicles while pushing ahead with near-term models such as its redesigned full-size SUVs and the GMC Hummer EV, Cadillac Lyriq, Chevrolet Bolt EUV and Cruise Origin, as well as its new Ultium battery system. A GM spokesman who spoke with Reuters reiterated on Monday what the automaker had said last week — that the situation with its U.S. plants was "fluid" and that the automaker would "continue to evaluate" whether and when to reopen those plants on a week-by-week basis, with "employee safety" guiding that decision. GM said previously that it was closing most of its U.S. plants indefinitely. In its Monday email, GM asked suppliers to stop work on all pre-production tooling and pre-production parts manufacturing, but also not to dispose of any tooling or materials. GM told Reuters it had solicited volunteers from its workforce to finish the build-out of the current SUVs on a single shift in Arlington.