China and U.S.A. are Key to Bentley’s Plan to Double its Sales

Despite the global crisis, last year Bentley increased its sales by 30 percent compared to 2010, yet the VW Group-owned luxury carmaker has even grander plans for the next five years.

While he is satisfied with the results so far, Bentley’s CEO Wolfgang Duerheimer wants his company to more than double its annual sales from today’s 7,000 units to 15,000 in 2017. Duerheimer told Automotive News Europe that he counts on China and the recovering U.S. market to contribute a lot in that increase.

“We are currently experiencing a boom in China, where our sales almost doubled to 1,839 vehicles in 2011”, said Duerheimer. “That made China Bentley’s second-largest single market. It will likely advance into the number one spot this year”, he added.

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New Bentley Mulsanne Mulliner Driving Specification Promises Sportier Look and Feel

Bentley will make its way to this year's edition of the Geneva International Auto Salon in early March with a new edition of its Mulsanne limousine that resurrects the Mulliner nameplate, or to be more precise, the car is being called the 'Mulliner Driving Specification'.

The VW Group-owned British automaker says the latest addition to the Mulsanne's range targets customers looking "for a sportier look, feel and character," though there are far less changes than what Bentley would like you to believe.

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Bentley Continental GT V8 Literally Goes Airborne Above Munich

First we had the Bentley Continental GT W12 taking up snow sports and more specifically ski joring by lugging around world champion Franco Moro, and now, the British premium carmaker has pulled off another stunt, this time far more impressive.

Bentley celebrated the arrival of the new 4.0-liter V8-powered Continental GT Coupe in Germany in a dramatic way by suspending the car under a helicopter and taking it for a ride or rather a flight above downtown Munich.

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Bentley Continental Takes on Alpine Sports

Bentley is giving a new twist to ski joring, which is a winter sport that usually involves a skier being pulled by a horse or dog(s), to promote the capabilities of its all-wheel drive Continental model series.

The British automaker took the 564bhp Continental GT to Switzerland’s Alpine passes at the Saanenland region and paired it up with 16-times ski joring world champion Franco Moro.

Watch how the odd pairing turned out in the video clip that follows after the jump.

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World Luxury Association Names Top 10 Car Brands

In a glitzy event held in Beijing, China, this month, the World Luxury Association (WLA), which is a non-profit research organization, named its Top 100 most valuable luxury brands of the year.

In the automotive field, the Top 10 premium car brands included some of the usual suspects such as Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Ferrari and Lamborghini along with some surprise entrants like Saab's former owner Spyker and Koenigsegg. Not that it matters any more, but Daimler's Maybach brand didn't make the cut.

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Bentley Eyes Jay-Z, Samuel L. Jackson and Other High-Profile Maybach Customers

After Daimler announced that it is killing off its failed Maybach brand to concentrate on the next Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Bentley immediately started eyeing up Maybach's customers such as music singer/producer Jay-Z (who, incidentally, destroyed one in a video), King of Spain Juan Carlos, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich and the Sultan of Brunei.

“The withdrawal of Maybach is a business opportunity for us and we’re going to use it," Bentley CEO Wolfgang Duerheimer told Reuters during the Detroit Motor Show

Duerheimer added that he would invite current Maybach owners for VIP tours in Bentley’s Crewe factory as he wants to create “a specific welcome zone” inside the brand.

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Bentley Reveals Fresh Details on its New Continental V8 at NAIAS World Premiere

The V8 versions of the Bentley Continental GT coupe and GTC convertible were unveiled almost a month before its Detroit Motor Show debut. Even though for decades Bentleys sported a turbocharged V8 under their hood, the Continental does not employ the 6.75-liter unit that powers the current Mulsanne, but a brand-new 4.0-liter unit.

Despite slotting below the W12 version, the V8’s 500HP and 660Nm (487 lb-ft) ensure that it does service to the red badge that denotes the sportier Bentleys delivering a 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) time of under 5.0 seconds and a top speed exceeding 290 km/h (180 mph).

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Bentley Continental GT Coupe Falls Prey to Spray-paint Vandal

Who knows what kind of animosity the owner of this Continental GT Coupe in Russia had with the vandal who decided to seek some sort of revenge by decorating the Bentley with a bottle of spray-paint, but one thing's for sure: he or she ain't going to be happy upon viewing the British luxury model's new painjob…

The folks over at CarLifeblog tell us that the vandal wrote the words "New Happiness" on the windshield and the hood and "Scumbag" at the rear window of the Bentley. You can find a couple more photos after the break.

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Are 2011 Luxury Car Brand Record Sales a Good Sign for the U.S. Economy?

Bentley saw its global sales increase by a whopping 30 percent worldwide last year. while Rolls-Royce, helped by the launch of the Ghost, sold 3,500 cars in North America, smashing its 2010 record of 2,711 deliveries.

The first thing that comes to mind is that, in the midst of a recession, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.

Bentley’s North American president Christopher Georges, however, sees things from a different perspective, in that booming sales of uber-luxurious cars are reflecting a confidence in the economy.

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New Bentley Continental V8 Range Revealed, will Debut at the Detroit Motor Show

Bentley today unveiled its new Continental V8 range powered by the VW Group's new 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 engine. The new powerplant will power both the Continental GT coupe and its GTC convertible sibling, which will receive their world debut at the Detroit Motor Show on January 9.

This is the first time Bentley has put a V8 engine under the hood of the Continental: since 2003, when the first generation of the grand touring coupe entered production, the sole engine choice was the twin turbocharged 6.0-liter W12, which remains the flagship of the Continental engine range.

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Bentley Teases the Sounds of its New 4.0-liter Turbocharged V8

It's been known for over a year now that Bentley is planning to supplement the range of its Continental series with a brand new twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 engine sourced, of course, from the Volkswagen Group's vast parts bin.

While Bentley remains tight lipped on the details, today, the British carmaker released the first teaser video of a Continental GT coupe fitted with the base V8 powerplant that is currently shared with the Audi S6, S7 and S8 models.

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Saudi Edition: Bentley Continental Flying Spur Grounded in Sand

As it turns out, despite their advanced all-wheel drive system, Bentley's luxury limousines and coupes aren't very good when it comes to off-road activities. Who would have known!

We saw it last year when a blissfully unaware owner of a Continental GT Coupe got bogged down in tons of mud in Russia (see the epic video clip here), and we're seeing it now with this Saudi Arabian owner of a Continental Flying Spur sedan who had some troubles conquering the desert sands. Wonder why...

For some amusing footage, follow the break to watch the videos for yourself.

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Buy a Bentley Continental Convertible ISR, Get a Breitling Limited Edition Chronograph for Free

Many people that are into premium cars are also into expensive watches, which is only natural since the finest examples of both serve more than just a utilitarian role.

A Bentley and a Lada can both take you from point A to point B. In much the same way, a 10 dollar watch can tell you the time in exactly the same way as a Rolex or a Breitling.

So if you’re looking just for transportation and knowing what time it is, pass on the Bentley and the Breitling and save yourself enough money to buy a house.

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Bentley Launches Redesigned Continental GTC in Los Angeles, Priced from $212,800

As Bentley is on track for a new annual record of 7,000 sales, the U.S. continues to be the number one market for its open top models, accounting for almost half of Bentley convertible worldwide sales.

And in the whole of the U.S., California and more specifically its southern part, is the place to go if you want to see a convertible Bentley. Therefore it makes perfect sense to choose the LA Auto Show for the new Continental GTC's North American debut.

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Volkswagen Group Operating Profits Soar 86 Percent in the First 9 Months of 2011

Whereas the rest of the European carmakers such as PSA Peugeot and Citroen and the Fiat Group are facing troubled times, the German auto industry is enjoying one of its most prosperous eras ever.

On Thursday, Europe's largest automaker, the Volkswagen Group, announced that it has earned more in the first nine months of 2011 than in the whole of 2010.

The company's operating profit surged to €9.0 billion (US$12.5 billion) from January through September, up from €7.1 billion in fiscal 2010 and €4.8 billion in the same period last year, which represents a staggering 86 percent increase.

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Imperium Automotive Presents New Bentley Continental GT Audentia

Headquartered in the historic city of Edinburgh in Scotland, Imperium Automotive is a high-end design house that focuses on the Bentley and Bugatti brands.

Their latest offering is a new limited-edition styling package for the recently updated Bentley Continental GT Coupe named ‘Audentia’, which is said to be a direct Latin translation for ‘boldness and courage’.

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Report: Bentley Boss Says New SUV to be powered by W12 Petrol and V12 Diesel Engines, Due in 2015

[The above photo is a rendering from the Xenatec Group]

After Porsche launched the Cayenne in 2002, it changed the sport carmakers’ way of thinking. If the world wants a premium SUV by a top brand, why stick to the past and not ride the wave, increasing production volume and profitability?

After all, despite the initial outcry, it is primarily the Cayenne’s success that we have to thank for the continued existence and evolution of the 911.

At the Pebble Beach festival, Bentley’s CEO, Wolfgang Duerheimer, confirmed that the British luxury carmaker will indeed build an SUV. And he recently replaced chief engineer Ulrich Eichhorn with Porsche’s Rolf Frech who has also worked on the Cayenne.

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Bentley Launches China-Only Continental Flying Spur "Linley" Special Edition

China is quickly becoming the ideal place to launch bespoke (…and higher-priced) special edition versions for luxury carmakers. The latest example is Bentley, which will sell just 10 Continental Flying Spurs created in cooperation with British design company Linley.

The Linley limited edition will only be available in what is now Bentley’s biggest market in the world. According to the British carmaker, it “incorporates signature Linley elements that will appeal to customers who value pedigree, lineage, handcrafted quality and peerless design”.

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IAA 2011: Bentley’s New Continental GTC offers Open-Top Luxury Cruising

The convertible version of the updated Continental GT luxury coupe was Bentley’s main attraction at the 64th Frankfurt Motor Show. The heavily refreshed Continental GTC is naturally based on its fixed-roof sibling, with its lines being more sculpted than the outgoing model and the front featuring a new grille and headlights. Read more »

Bentley Motors to Auction Unique Collector's Items Including a Table Made from the Mulsanne's V8

An array of one-off items created by artisans from the tooling, woodshop and styling teams at Bentley Motors are heading to the auction block to raise money for The Prince’s Trust, which is a youth charity that provides practical and financial support to 14 to 30-year-olds.

The graduates from Bentley Motors have handcrafted a variety of collector's items ranging from display objects such as a chess-set with pieces tooled from aluminium set on a veneered board, to an impressive table created from a polished V8 engine from the Mulsanne and a cutlery-set engraved with the Bentley emblem commissioned by Robert Welch.

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