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Bentley Continental GT Convertible is here, and it's a stunner

Bentley gave us a completely revamped Continental GT a short time ago, and now we get its airy twin, the Continental GT Convertible. Making its debut right before the L.A. Auto Show begins, the topless Bentley incorporates everything new and good about the redesigned Conti. It'll come with the 6.0-liter twin-turbo W12 engine making 626 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque, just like the coupe. Acceleration to 60 occurs in a luxuriously quick 3.7 seconds before topping out at 207 mph. It's a convertible, but it sure won't be slowing you down any because of it. Styling for the drop top is elegant but doesn't distance itself much from the coupe beyond the obvious lack of a roof. That's totally fine, because the new Continental GT is stunning either way. Bentley has an option for old-school tweed lovers out there too: a roof made of the stuff. Details on how such a roof is possible haven't yet been spelled out, but we're guessing it isn't made of your traditional (not waterproof) tweed. Whether you choose tweed or some other more normal material for your roof, Bentley says it has better sound proofing to offer a three-decibel reduction of noise compared to its predecessor. It'll open in 19 seconds at speeds up to 30 mph. Like the coupe, the convertible drops a bunch of weight — it's now 20-percent lighter than before and 5-percent stiffer. Technology within the Convertible has advanced a few steps compared to the previous generation. The Convertible offers a rotating display in the center stack, so a driver can choose whether they'd like to see the 12.3-inch touchscreen or uninterrupted wood paneling. Bentley spared no expense on the real wood paneling either. Each car uses over 107 square-feet of the nicest lumber Bentley can get its hands on. A new neckwarmer is apparently warmer and quieter than before, and now it also has heated armrests. A couple different technology packages will be offered at launch. One is called "City," and adds hands-free trunk operation, traffic-sign recognition, city braking systems and a top-view camera. The other is called "Touring" and it tacks on adaptive cruise control, active lane assist, a head-up display, infrared night vision camera and pre-sense braking. Frankly, it feels like many of these options should be standard like they are on a $30,000 Honda Accord. All the other pertinent equipment is virtually identical with the 2019 Continental GT we already drove.

Bentley names new CEO for the Americas

Bentley has announced a shift in its upper ranks that will see Michael Winkler take the reins as head of its operations in the Americas. A longtime sales executive and regional manager, Winkler has worked for Porsche in locations around the world, and comes to Bentley from his previous position as director of Australian operations for Jaguar Land Rover. In his new capacity as president and CEO of Bentley Motors Inc. – the office responsible for handling the brand's operations across the Americas – Winkler will report to Kevin Rose, the Bentley board member for sales and marketing. Winkler succeeds Christophe Georges, who moves back to the head office as director of product and marketing. The British automaker has 53 dealerships across the Americas, accounting for 29 percent of its global sales last year. Its American operations are based at 2200 Ferdinand Porsche Drive in Herndon, VA. MICHAEL WINKLER NEW PRESIDENT AND CEO OF BENTLEY MOTORS INC. (Crewe/Herndon 26th January 2015) Bentley Motors today announced that Michael Winkler will become President and Chief Executive Officer of Bentley Motors Inc., the regional office for Bentley Motors in the Americas, with effect from 1st April 2015. He succeeds Christophe Georges, who was recently appointed Director of Product and Marketing for Bentley's global organisation. Winkler will report directly to Kevin Rose, Bentley's Member of the Board for Sales, Marketing and Aftersales. Rose commented: "The Americas region plays a key part in Bentley's global success, our biggest market with more Bentley customers than anywhere else in the world. I am delighted to welcome Michael to Bentley, and look forward to working with him to drive our brand and network presence further." Winkler has more than 30 years of experience in the automotive industry, holding a number of international positions, working with Porsche in Germany, North America and Australia, and joins Bentley from Jaguar Land Rover, where he held the position of Managing Director of the company's Australian division. The Americas remained Bentley's number one market throughout 2014, closing the year delivering 3,186 cars, up from the 2013 number of 3,140. This accounted for 29% of total global deliveries. There are 53 Bentley dealerships throughout the Americas, with the corporate headquarters based in Herndon, Virginia.

Weekly Recap: Mercedes continues the pseudo-coupe craze with AMG-tuned CUV

But as BMW's X6 has demonstrated, sport sells in in the crossover segment, and Mercedes is giving the people what they want. BMW proved there is a market for crossover utility vehicles designed to look like coupes – as much as a vehicle with four doors and noticeable ground clearance can look like a coupe, anyway. Now comes the reply from Mercedes-Benz: the GLE Coupe. The rakish crossover is a harbinger of things to come from Mercedes, as it begins the company's transition to a new nomenclature and marks the debut of the AMG Sport line. It also continues the recent coupe craze. Designers from many automakers, like Nissan and Volkswagen, have increasingly turned to swoopy, dramatic styling to make utility vehicles and sedans seem more desirable. By revealing the GLE 450 AMG Sport model first, Mercedes is clearly hoping to cast the GLE Coupe as a sportier, lifestyle-oriented alternative in its lineup of beefy crossovers and SUVs. Mercedes used the word "sport," or a variation of it, 53 times in its press release, so uh yeah, it's sporty. It's not an empty promise: Benz means business with the AMG Sport line. This GLE Coupe gets a 3.0-liter biturbo V6 rated at 362 horsepower and 384 pound-feet of torque paired with Mercedes' new nine-speed automatic transmission, and it runs with 4Matic all-wheel drive. Specs on the other GLE Coupe models were not disclosed. But as BMW's X6 has demonstrated, sport sells in in the crossover segment, and Mercedes is giving the people what they want. After all, more than 260,000 people have bought X6s since 2008, and Mercedes wants a piece of that. From certain angles, the GLE Coupe even looks vaguely like an X6. "This is really a vehicle that is all about status," said Dave Sullivan, product analysis manager for research firm AutoPacific. "You can buy a SUV that doesn't have the inherent qualities of a SUV, such as cargo hauling. People will likely be drawn to the looks. Coupes are all the rage." BMW, however, isn't running from the fight, and the updated 2015 X6 is arriving in showrooms this month. It also added a smaller sibling, the X4, to its coupe-crossover stable in July. The GLE Coupe arrives next year, though Mercedes hasn't specified exactly when it will hit showrooms from the factory in Alabama, or specified details on the rest of the non-AMG Sport models. In 2008, it was surprising the X6 was a hit. In 2015, it will be even more surprising if the GLE Coupe isn't.