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Porsche says next Cayenne will be faster than Bentley Bentayga

Bentley and Porsche are both high-end marques under the same umbrella, and may even be collaborating on development of new models – but while they tend to take different approaches and go after different customers, that doesn't mean they can't share a bit of sibling rivalry. And that spirit of competition – even within the Volkswagen Group – looks to be coming to a head in the form of their upcoming luxury performance crossovers. For his part, Bentley CEO Wolfgang Durheimer promises that the brand's upcoming Bentayga sport-ute will (in its top spec with the W12 engine) be the fastest SUV on the market. But in speaking with Car and Driver, Wolfgang Hatz – who holds the Porsche R&D head office that Durheimer used to occupy – says the Bentley won't be king for long. Porsche just released the new Cayenne Turbo S in Detroit, touting it as the first SUV to crack the eight-minute barrier at the Nurburgring. And Hatz says that the next version will be even faster. "Our Cayenne is always very very quick. It is doing 300 km/h [186 mph]. I think if [Durheimer] is doing 2 to 3 km/h more, then why not? He's doing that with a 12-cylinder. Our car will be much quicker on the road." The next Cayenne is slated to use a new generation of engines, and according to Hatz, will benefit from the same (if not more) weight loss as the new Audi Q7 with which it will share its platform. That sounds like a winning combination to us. That is, at least, for fans of performance crossovers. For those who aren't, Porsche promises it won't be bolstering its lineup with any new ones. Apparently the Cayenne and the smaller Macan are enough. Nor will Zuffenhausen slot anything bigger than a V6 into the Macan, according to the report. While Porsche's baby crossover will surely continue to get faster with new iterations, the Cayenne will always remain the performance flagship of its SUV range. Featured Gallery 2015 Porsche Cayenne Turbo S News Source: Car and Driver Bentley Porsche Crossover SUV Performance bentley bentayga porsche cayenne turbo s

Car companies may need to start curbing model proliferation

Looking at the current automotive landscape, especially from German makers, you quickly get the impression that less definitely isn't more. BMW alone offers its 3 Series platform in practically every segment possible, including the regular sedan and 4 Series Gran Coupe, which would seem to be direct competitors. Porsche might be the winner, though, with 20 different variants of the 911 listed for sale on its US website. However, some of this model madness might be reaching an end as companies begin cutting back spending or shifting money to other priorities.
According to Yahoo Finance, the offerings from the German automakers are up 25 percent over the past three years to over 200 models in Europe. The peak is expected to come around 2018 at 230 separate vehicles, according to consulting company PwC.
Amazingly, BMW, which is among the poster children for this model explosion, might be changing its tune. "I'm sure there will be points in the future where we look at certain cars and say, 'Maybe we need to think differently now,'" said head of sales Ian Robertson in an interview, according to Yahoo Finance. The statement certainly sounds shocking coming from a company rumored to have 23 front-wheel-drive vehicles all using a single platform on the way.

VW Group plan puts Porsche in charge of a 'super-premium' division

An Automobile report looks into what's happening on the organizational and technical sides of the Volkswagen Group, and what those changes could mean for the premium brands. The wide-angle view is that Porsche appears to have been anointed to "coordinate the future activities" at Audi, Bentley, Bugatti and Lamborghini. Audi would cede Lamborghini guardianship to Stuttgart, and Ducati — via a new concern called Ducati Enterprises — would become the shepherd for VW's other Italian investments. Executives target Jan. 1, 2019, to complete the reshuffle. VW wants to save a boodle by tying up four of its five top-tier brands, and putting the one with the highest ROI in charge. Porsche, within its own house, wants to reduce expenditures by $2.3 billion per year over for four years, the savings already earmarked for improving internal processes like R&D and production. Having Porsche share those gains as well as lead development of platforms, components and future-tech strategies for the sister sports car brands could benefit everyone. In the near-term, the brands have their own plans: Bugatti CEO Stephan Winkelmann is said to want a Chiron Superleggera, a roofless and "completely reskinned" Chiron Aperta, and a track-only Chiron SS. The Superleggera could take the Chiron Sport's and Divo's Jenny Craig routines even further. The Aperta seems a natural successor to the Veyron Grand Sport, a natural evolution of the recently introduced Sky View roof, and a reskin might include numerous Divo cues. It's also said Bugatti's considering "an all-electric high-end model" in conjunction with Porsche, Rimac, and Dallara, but name one supercar or hypercar manufacturer that isn't considering a lightning-fast EV. Lamborghini, deep into work on follow-ups for the Huracan and Aventador, might get a bit of a bump with the new plan. The carbon "monofuselage" for the next V12 flagship is said to be too far developed and too complex to scrap. It puts two electric motors on the front axle, batteries in the middle, and a naturally aspirated V12 with around 770 horsepower plus another e-motor with 402 horsepower in back. The Huracan is said to get a version of the same carbon architecture at the moment, but the corporate reorganization might press pause on it. Automobile says options include continuing the Huracan/ Audi R8 twinning, but that depends on Audi saying "Ja" to a third-gen R8 with Lamborghini bones.