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Bentley Continental 24 is for those who find the Supersports too common

Bentley is no stranger to special-edition models. Some are like the Bentayga Falconry by Mulliner, a tasteful rolling tribute to the sport of kings. Others, such as the new Bentley Continental 24, are aimed at a slightly less conservative customer base. The Continental 24, built to commemorate the British automaker's return to the 24 Hours Nurburgring, is big, bright, and slightly less subdued than other Bentleys. As they say, different strokes for different folks. The entire run will be limited to 24 cars, obviously. The full allocation is slated just for Europe, but we're sure with enough cash Bentley can make something similar available stateside. The car is based on the new 700 horsepower Bentley Continental GT Supersports, the fastest road-going Bentley ever. In addition to the horsepower, the Supersports' W12 engine turns out 750 lb-ft of torque and, thanks to the titanium exhaust, enough noise to drown out all the haters at the local country club. The most obvious feature on the Continental 24 is the bright Monaco Yellow or St. James Red over Black Crystal paint scheme, done up similar to the Bentley Team ABT Continental GT3 race cars. The paintwork even carries to the 21-inch forged wheels, with body-matching paint filling the spokes. The exterior is finished with carbon-fiber mirrors, black brake calipers, and black brightware in place of chrome. The two-tone theme carries on inside the Continental 24, with either yellow or red accenting the nearly all black trim and upholstery. Black Alcantara seats are stitched with contrasting diamond patterns. Yellow or red sweep around and flank the cabin. As expected, the headrests are emblazoned with "Continental 24." Unsurprisingly, exclusivity doesn't come cheap. Deliveries begin in July with prices starting at ˆ250,000, or about $280,600. It's probably got a wider appeal than the admittedly niche Bentayga Falconry. Related Video: Featured Gallery Bentley Continental 24 View 12 Photos News Source: Bentley Design/Style Motorsports Bentley Coupe Luxury Performance

Bentley will phase out all non-electrified powertrains by 2026

Bentley will accelerate its electrification offensive during the first half of the 2020s, Autoblog can reveal. It will release an array of plug-in hybrid and electric cars, and it plans to phase out all non-electrified powertrains. "Next year, we will launch two plug-in hybrid models. In the end, it's the best of both worlds. It means the customer can decide when to use the internal combustion engine, and when to go electric. It also reduces fuel consumption massively," affirmed company boss Adrian Hallmark during a virtual roundtable discussion. He stopped short of revealing whether the plug-ins will be based on existing models, or if they'll be new additions to the range. As of writing, the Bentayga is the only Bentley available with a plug. My crystal ball tells me the Continental and the Flying Spur (which are marketed as separate models) are prime candidates for electrification. Bentley's first electric car is scheduled to make its debut by 2025. Details are also scarce, but Hallmark revealed the model will be built on a new platform, and it will benefit from the latest battery technology. Going electric won't be an excuse to radically overhaul the company's design language, however. Chris Cooke, Bentley's board member for sales and marketing, noted the zero-local-emissions car will look "much more modern and more interesting," but it will remain immediately recognizable as a member of the Bentley portfolio. He warned not to expect a revolution. Take the limited-edition, 650-horsepower Bacalar (pictured below), for example. It looks like a Bentley, it doesn't represent a stupefying break with tradition, but it's not a Xerox copy of the Continental, either. Bentley Mulliner Bacalar - 1 View 22 Photos After 2025, the floodgates open. Hallmark pledged to create a family of electric cars, and that every model in the Bentley range will be either a plug-in hybrid or fully electric. He realistically refused to say the internal combustion engine's days are numbered, however, and he added his team disagrees with the bans floated in some markets. "Whenever the deadline is for banning combustion engine sales, we're advocating an overlap so that hybrids are allowed to be sold for longer, until everybody can afford, charge, and live with the range of an electric car. I think we're now getting through; we trust the right decisions will be made," he said candidly.

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: