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Audi CEO says brand's EVs are almost as profitable as its other cars

After, oh, a hundred years or so of building vehicles primarily powered by internal combustion engines, automakers around the world have been and still are pumping billions of dollars into the development of electric vehicle technology. Everything from platforms and batteries to motors and the software to control it all requires untold hours of development, and that takes time and money. Fortunately, it's not going to take long for that massive investment to start paying off, at least according to Audi CEO Markus Duesmann, who told Reuters in an interview that "The point where we earn as much money with electric cars as with combustion engine cars is now, or ... next year, 2023. They are very even now, the prices." As a brand, Audi contributed more than a quarter of overall profit for the massive Volkswagen Group, which has such powerhouse brands as Volkswagen and Porsche among others. Under the Audi umbrella are Lamborghini, Bentley and Ducati, and it seems those high-end branches aren't going anywhere, at least for now. "These brands ... are very valuable very profitable brands, where we can even expand the synergy level in the future," Duesmann said in the interview. "There are no plans whatsoever to get rid of them." Despite the overall profitability of the brand, the ongoing global chip crisis is causing headaches. "We had a very strong first half in 2021. We do expect a much weaker second half," said Duesmann, who added, "We really have trouble." In fact, so serious is the trouble that the brand is forced into "a day-to-day troubleshooting process" to limit the chip-shortage damage. The good news for the automaker is that Audi has been able to boost its profit margin from 8% prior to the pandemic in 2019 to 10.7% in the first half of 2021. The bad news is that various chip shortages aren't expected to get a whole lot better over the rest of the year. Related video:

2020 Bentley Continental GT plug-in hybrid spied undisguised

While at first, and even second glance, the Bentley Continental GT in the photos looks pretty unremarkable. In every sense, it's just a normal example of the latest Continental GT. On that third glance, though, you'll notice one extremely subtle detail that's off: it has a second fuel-filler door. That leads us to believe that Bentley has a plug-in hybrid version of the Continental GT on the way, and it's almost ready for production. And when we say this is a subtle change, we mean it. Unlike many PHEVs that have both filler doors on one side, this Bentley has one door per side. So from the side, there's nothing to tip you off to the strange addition. You can only notice the extra door from the rear, which shows both doors on the tops of the rear fenders. Either that, or you would have to know that the regular Continental GT's gasoline fuel door is on the right side of the car, not the left. As for what sort of hybrid powertrain is in this Continental GT, we would suspect it's the same as that in the Bentayga Hybrid revealed at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year. It uses a turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 with an electric motor. Power and fuel economy haven't been announced for that powertrain, but Bentley says it is capable of driving the big SUV for 31 miles on a charge on the European cycle. We would expect the lighter, more aerodynamic Continental GT could probably eke out a few more mpg with the same setup. Considering that this test car was completely undisguised, and that it will likely use an existing powertrain, we expect this hybrid Bentley to be officially revealed soon. An announcement early next year with sales coming later that year seems plausible. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2020 Bentley Continental GT plug-in hybrid spy shots View 11 Photos Image Credit: CarPix Green Spy Photos Bentley Coupe Hybrid Luxury Performance bentley hybrid

2015 Bentley Mulsanne Speed unleashes a tidal wave of torque

811 lb-ft of torque puts the Mulsanne Speed out ahead of every so-called muscle car on the market and eclipses most million-dollar hypercars.
Those in the market for a sedan with equal levels of performance and luxury would do well to stop by their local Bentley dealership, and have a look at the Flying Spur. Though not available in Speed trim like the previous four-door Continental, the W12 model already packs the 616-horsepower 6.0-liter twin-turbo W12 from the Continental GT Speed - and we wouldn't be surprised to see the British automaker come out with an even more performance-oriented version in the future. But what about the Mulsanne?