1970 Camaro Ss396 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

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.

Nissan Leaf has outsold Chevy Volt by 50% so far in 2015

We know, we know. The Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf sales numbers for mid- to late-2015 aren't all that meaningful because of the impending arrival of the next-gen Volt and the expected but not-yet-totally-confirmed debut of the second version of the Leaf. Nonetheless, tracking the sales of the first two major plug-in vehicles is something that remains interesting to us, if for nothing else that the all-electric Leaf remains slightly more popular than the plug-in hybrid Volt after all this time. If we just look at August, the numbers were basically tied in the US. Chevy sold 1,380 Volts while Nissan moved 1,393 Leafs. But when we take a 10,000-foot view, the differences starts to appear. So far in 2015, GM has sold 8,315 Chevy Volts while Nissan has sold 12,383 Leafs. That means that the Nissan has outsold the Chevy by around 50 percent (to be specific, it's 48.92 percent). Since the two vehicles went on sale in the US at roughly the same time at the end of 2010, 81,672 Volts have been sold, compared to 84,705 Leafs. That's a difference of only 3,033 vehicles, so proponents of both powertrains can hold their heads high. Looking just at last month, Volt sales were 45 percent lower compared to August 2014. So far this year, Volt sales are down 36.7 percent. The Leaf didn't fare any better. Month-to-month, Leaf sales were down 43.7 percent in August, while year-to-date, Leaf sales are down 65.3 percent. Those second-gen models can't come soon enough. As always, we'll have our broader wrap-up of monthly green car sales for August up soon. Stay tuned. Green Chevrolet Nissan Electric Hybrid ev sales

Forza Motorsport 6's new drivable Hot Wheels cars are the best

Each month, Turn 10 Studios releases a new car pack for the latest installment of its Forza Motorsport video game. Sometimes that means less-than-exciting stuff coming to our Xbox Ones – BMW X6M, bleh – but this time our inner seven-year-old is beyond ecstatic. Two of the seven cars are based on actual Hot Wheels models. And. They're. Awesome. First we have the 2011 Hot Wheels Bone Shaker. Yes, there are flames on the side. And yes, there's a giant skull where the grille should be. This one came from the imagination of "Mr. Hot Wheels" Larry Wood, whose design was so popular it inspired an actual real-world creation. Like all good things in this world, it's powered by a small-block Chevy V8. Oh, and it has no roof. This will be a popular one among gamers. The other digitized Hot Wheels creation is a 2005 Ford Mustang. A modest vehicle, sure, but the toy designers have festooned this pony car with a wild paint scheme and the body mods to emphasize it. Originally developed to celebrate the 'Stang's 50th birthday, this Hot Wheels car trades Americana for wild Japanese style. There's just one functioning life-size version of this car in existence as well, but if you look hard, you might be able to find one of the 1:64 scale models that inspired it. Other highlights from this month's car pack include the latest Ford Focus RS – finally time to replace that NASCAR-V8-powered, all-wheel-drive 2009 Focus RS – the 2015 McLaren P1 GTR, the 2016 Chevrolet Camaro SS, the aforementioned X6M, and Alain Prost's 1990 Ferrari 641 F1 car. The Hot Wheels Car Pack is available for download today. Related Video: Featured Gallery Forza Motorsport 6: Hot Wheels Car Pack News Source: Turn 10 Studios via YouTube Toys/Games BMW Chevrolet Ferrari Ford McLaren Racing Vehicles Performance video games Hot Wheels forza motorsport chevy camaro ss forza motorsport 6