Bentley

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VW Group plan puts Porsche in charge of a ‘super-premium’ division

An Automobile report looks into what’s happening on the organizational and technical sides of the Volkswagen Group, and what those changes could mean for the premium brands. The wide-angle view is that Porsche appears to have been anointed to “coordinate the future activities” at Audi, Bentley, Bugatti and Lamborghini. Audi would cede Lamborghini guardianship to Stuttgart, and Ducati — via a new concern called Ducati Enterprises — would become the shepherd for VW’s other Italian investments. Executives target Jan. 1, 2019, to complete the reshuffle.

VW wants to save a boodle by tying up four of its five top-tier brands, and putting the one with the highest ROI in charge. Porsche, within its own house, wants to reduce expenditures by $2.3 billion per year over for four years, the savings already earmarked for improving internal processes like R&D and production. Having Porsche share those gains as well as lead development of platforms, components and future-tech strategies for the sister sports car brands could benefit everyone.

In the near-term, the brands have their own plans:

Bugatti CEO Stephan Winkelmann is said to want a Chiron Superleggera, a roofless and “completely reskinned” Chiron Aperta, and a track-only Chiron SS. The Superleggera could take the Chiron Sport‘s and Divo‘s Jenny Craig routines even further. The Aperta seems a natural successor to the Veyron Grand Sport, a natural evolution of the recently introduced Sky View roof, and a reskin might include numerous Divo cues. It’s also said Bugatti’s considering “an all-electric high-end model” in conjunction with Porsche, Rimac, and Dallara, but name one supercar or hypercar manufacturer that isn’t considering a lightning-fast EV.

Lamborghini, deep into work on follow-ups for the Huracán and Aventador, might get a bit of a bump with the new plan. The carbon “monofuselage” for the next V12 flagship is said to be too far developed and too complex to scrap. It puts two electric motors on the front axle, batteries in the middle, and a naturally aspirated V12 with around 770 horsepower plus another e-motor with 402 horsepower in back.

The Huracán is said to get a version of the same carbon architecture at the moment, but the corporate reorganization might press pause on it. Automobile says options include continuing the Huracán/Audi R8 twinning, but that depends on Audi saying “Ja” to a third-gen R8 with Lamborghini bones. Beyond that, the Huracán could move to the Mimo II platform created by Porsche for the in-limbo-since-2011 mid-engined 960, or the entire premium group could get a new aluminum architecture for a “modular multi-brand sports car.”

Bentley and Audi need the most help at the moment. The UK carmaker needs to flesh out its current financial issues and vision for the future, and the latter relies in large part on the former. Audi remains in upheaval — the Automobile piece calls the brand “seriously overstaffed and worryingly over budget.” — and we can’t know when that will end. The ex-CEO who made the brand VW’s highest earner remains in jail, and we wouldn’t be surprised by any new bombshell that drops when he gets his days, or weeks, in court.

A total reintegration, if it all comes off, means monumental work. Yet according to a Bloomberg corporate analyst, potential rewards from going all the way with the plan might make it impossible to resist. Bloomberg said that if VW created a premium group and floated it on the markets, the result “could be valued at more than 120 billion euros,” when the stock market capitalization of the entire VW Group right now is 67 billion euros.

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September 11, 2018 / Comments Off

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New Bentley boss nixes any new sports cars in its money-losing lineup

Adrian Hallmark took over the helm at Bentley on February 1 this year. Volkswagen poached him from Jaguar, where he headed the brand’s global strategy. Or perhaps we should say re-poached him, since Hallmark served as Bentley’s board member in charge of sales and marketing from 1999 to 2005, and helped guide the original Continental GT to market. He’s now responsible getting Bentley in better shape financially and sales-wise, and positioning it for growth. Among the products necessary to do that, Hallmark recently told Autocar that flashy coupes won’t cut it. “I’ll tell you what we won’t be building,” he said, “and that’s sports cars.”

That means we can forget about the gorgeous EXP 10 Speed 6 coupe that had a rumored place in the lineup after a sub-Bentayga CUV, and the EXP 12 Speed 6e battery-electric convertible. Hallmark cited a few issues with the segment, the first being that the segment hasn’t yet recovered from the recession, and the buyer demographic that’s left goes up in age every year, clearly a losing game. The kinds of younger buyers who would buy Bentleys, athletes and entertainers, are deterred from the purchase by contractual limitations like injury clauses or aversion to paparazzi photos. As well, in China, wealthy buyers get SUVs or limousines, but Hallmark believes Bentley hasn’t adopted the the proper strategy there to take advantage.

This is far more than about sports cars for Bentley, though; a recent article in German newspaper Handelsblatt outlined a number of situations the carmaker needs to rectify, including the finding that Bentley’s “losing money hand over fist instead of racking up the hefty margins more typical of the class.” A German study claimed that whereas Ferrari makes around $80,000 on every car it sells, and Porsche makes a little more than $19,000 on each car (last year it was a little more than $17,000) Bentley loses a little more than $19,000 on each unit. The English manufacturer has posted an operating loss of roughly $92 million through the first six months of 2018, the latest figures in a decline that began in 2014. That financial timeline, however, coincides with Bentley’s $1.1B investment in new technologies, which the carmaker cites as the reason for profitability woes.

Beyond that, Handelsblatt claimed VW insiders said the recent Continental GT launch was the “worst production ramp-up of all time.” Bentayga sales are down a little in Europe, quite a bit in the U.S., and overall brand sales are down nearly ten percent globally this year. Bentley needs to invest its electrification plans — it wants electrified versions of all its models by 2025 — and that’s going to be expensive. The report said those insiders want Porsche to have a bigger hand in helping Bentley get on track and move forward.

That would tie in well with Hallmark’s experience, too, since he did a stint in charge of Porsche UK. He told Autocar that in addition to V8 models throughout the lineup, he’d like to crib from Porsche’s proficiency in creating special editions with more luxury or performance, and Stuttgart’s success in making its hybrid models the most desirable. Bentley wants to crack 15,000 to 20,000 units globally. The most it has achieved in the past five years is around 11,300.

Somehow, though, while tiny, independent Aston Martin gets stronger than its ever been with a growing lineup of incredible sports cars, Bentley has to walk away from the segment that made it what it is today.

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August 21, 2018 / Comments Off

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Bentley Bentayga Pikes Peak Limited Edition – 10 Units Worldwide

Bentley have announced the release of a special edition Bentley Bentayga. The Bentley Bentayga Pikes Peak Limited Edition will be replicated just 10 times and commemorates Bentley’s record run at last weekend’s Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

Last weekend’s record run was one of recent successes for the Volkswagen Group in the field of motorsport. At the hands of two time champion, Rhys Millen, the Bentayga managed a respectable 10:49.9 minutes, smashing the production SUV record. Not quite the sub-8 minute time achieved by sister company Volkswagen, however, it is no less impressive.

Speaking immediately after his run, Rhys Millen said: “What an incredible machine. To take a luxury SUV with minimal modifications and be able to drive up this course in under 11 minutes is a huge testament to the performance and level of engineering in the Bentayga. I had a great run – the car was planted all the way up and gave me the confidence I needed to push hard. I’m delighted to take the SUV record for Bentley and for everyone that’s been involved in this project.”

Bentley Bentayga Pikes Peak Limited Edition

The Bentley Bentayga that Bentley used to set the record was largely standard, meaning that Bentley did not change anything past what was essential. Front racing seats, a roll cage, fire suppression system, Pirelli DOT-marked tyres and a production spec Akrapovic sports exhaust were the only non-standard items of equipment. As a result, it is to be expected that Bentley would have released a special edition model!

The ten cars that Bentley will produce will each feature custom appointments by Mulliner. The exterior can be finished in Beluga black paint or Radium to match the Pikes Peak car. 22 inch wheels are standard and the car gets custom Beluga with Radium accents. Bentley’s Black Specification is also included combining gloss black components with carbon fibre parts.

Inside, a Mulliner Design Colour Split blends Key Lime accents with Beluga leather. There are Alcantara inserts to the seats and doors, steering wheel and gear lever. The headlining is technical Eliade cloth. The Pikes Peak logo is included for the carbon fibre fascias.

The Bentley Bentayga Pikes Peak Limited Edition packs the standard 6.0-litre twin turbo W12. It puts out 600 bhp and 900 Nm, fed through a ZF eight speed automatic transmission. It should be available to order from August for customers in the US and Europe.

June 27, 2018 / Comments Off

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