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The Volkswagen Group switches official language to English

The Volkswagen Group can't be fairly thought of as entirely German anymore, so the news that the company is switching its official language to English to help attract managers and executives is a rational, if surprising, decision. While many VW Group companies are still staidly German in character and culture, consider the other companies that it controls: Bentley (British), Bugatti (French), Ducati and Lamborghini (Italian), Skoda (Czech), Scania trucks (Swedish), and SEAT (Spanish). Not to mention the large Volkswagen Group of America operation, which constructs cars in Chattanooga, TN. Volkswagen's explicit motivation is to improve management recruitment – making sure the company isn't losing out on candidates for important positions because they can't speak German – and that's inherently sensible in a globalized economy. Particularly considering, like it or lump it, that English is the lingua franca of said global economy. It also should make it inherently easier to communicate between its world-wide subsidiaries and coordinate operations. It's hard to say for sure if this will have any impact on the consumer, although it's easy to see the benefits if, say, VW Group hires some American product planners or engineers and they push for features and designs that more closely suit American needs. After all, the US is a hugely important market for any manufacturer, and so the switch to English almost certainly has something to do with the outsized influence of the US in the global economy. And there doesn't seem to be a downside from a purely rational perspective, although it could mean that the Group's corporate culture becomes less German. Whether that's a good or a bad thing depends on your perspective. Related Video: Image Credit: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg via Getty Images Plants/Manufacturing Audi Bentley Bugatti Porsche Volkswagen SEAT Skoda

Bentley and Italdesign tease Geneva reveals

With five weeks to go until the Geneva Motor Show on March 5, automakers have begun the tease campaign. But because there are still five weeks to go, the teases are a little stingy. Bentley and Italdesign, two brands owned by the Volkswagen Group - Audi, specifically, owns Italdesign - break the seal with what look like two sports cars, the segment Geneva's best known for. Bentley, surprise, surprise, will celebrate its centenary year at Geneva with something inspired by its Le Mans history. The English carmaker's teaser video contains a number of historical elements that we don't know how to line up with the grille of the modern Bentley featuring a "9" graphic. The narrator detailing the early Le Mans race mentions 60 entries, but Le Mans never fielded exactly sixty entries during Bentley's fame-making days. The closest we could get was the 1925 race, the year after Bentley's first win, which saw 55 cars line up. But in 1925, the No. 9 Bentley had to retire after 13 hours when it caught on fire during a fuel stop. Instead, Bentley could be referring to the next evolution of its race cars. The brand won Le Mans with the Speed 6, and used the Speed 8 to win the 2003 race. Italdesign has gone even more cryptic with its teaser. The styling house most recently known for the Lamborghini Huracan-based Zerouno in 2017, and the Zerouno Duerte and Nissan GT-R50 in 2018, is promoting something else with serious wing. We'll guess it isn't another Zerouno derivative because of the wing stanchion. Freezing a few of the frames reveals background lines that make whatever's coming look highly racy. We'll get answers in the city by the lake. And most likely, a few more teasers before then. Related Video:

2014 Bentley Flying Spur makes its Swiss debut

Ever since the two-door Bentley Continental GT debuted in 2010, we've wondered how the coupe's new design and technology would carry over to the four-door Flying Spur model. We received official details and images a couple of weeks ago, but we've now had the chance to see the Spur in person here on the eve of the 2013 Geneva Motor Show.
It's a handsome sedan, this 2014 Flying Spur (which has officially ditched the Continental nomenclature, for what it's worth). And even more handsome in the metal. The stock photos don't do this big beast justice - especially in the rear three-quarter and profile views, where aspects of the car (namely its newly horizontal-shaped taillamps) can look a bit awkward.
More impressively, Bentley says that the new Flying Spur will be the "fastest, most powerful four-door" it has ever produced. Makes sense to us, especially considering the fact that the sedan borrows its twin-turbocharged 6.0-liter W12 powertrain from the Continental GT Speed coupe. This twelve-pot mill is good for 616 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque, able to propel the 5,451-pound, all-wheel-drive sedan to 60 miles per hour in 4.3 seconds. That's quick.