OPINION

Bentayga EWB – The first bespoke  will be auctioned for charity at this year’s Naples’s Winter Wine Festival. Bentley’s latest pinnacle product took part in the Naples Winter Wine Festival (NWWF), raising $1million of the total auction proceeds, totalling upwards of $25 million to benefit underserved children in Florida’s Collier county.     

Bentley Naples auction included delivery of this unique Bentayga Extended Wheelbase Azure created specifically for the Naples Winter Wine Festival.     

The Bentayga EWB features a three layer pearlescent Snow Quartz exterior paint. Contrasted with the Blackline Specification and finished with 22” ten spoke black painted and bright machined wheels. As a hidden delight feature, Amethyst detailing can be seen throughout the Mulliner White and Beluga Black cabin including the gear lever, door pockets, piping, and stitching. Mulliner’s additional loose rear cushions also take inspiration from the wine theme and are in Amethyst with white piping too.    

Personalized Naples Winter Wine Festival tread plates add to the bespoke nature of the Bentayga. The cabin experience is enhanced with world class leading audio from Naim accented by white speaker grilles.     

In addition, the automobile is equipped with the most wellbeing-focused automotive seat in the world – Bentley Airline Seat Specification. The new Airline Seat Specification of the Bentayga EWB is the most advanced seat ever fitted to a car. With 22-ways of adjustment, the world’s first auto climate sensing system and advanced postural adjustment technology offers the finest rear accommodation since the Mulsanne.  

Every inch of this Bentayga EWB embodies luxury, wellness, and performance for all occupants for a truly one-of-a-kind Bentley experience. In addition to this unique Bentley, the winning couple also accepted an opportunity to join the Extraordinary Journey UK programme, consisting of four nights and five days touring through England and Scotland. In addition to this, prior to joining the Extraordinary Journey UK programme, the winning couple will enjoy a bespoke extension to the trip with a curated London-based experience and a chauffeur drive upon landing in the UK.    

The exquisite experience includes visiting the Home of Bentley in Crewe, England for a unique factory tour and dining experience, followed by a multi-day drive from England up into Scotland with breathtaking routes, landscapes and luxurious venues along the way. Here, the programme comes to a close with an in-depth whisky tasting and exclusive distillery experience at The Macallan Estate.

“I’m extremely proud of Bentley Naples and our Mulliner team for creating this unique car to support a wonderful and worthy cause. Giving back and establishing purpose within the community is all part of our wider definition of sustainability.”  

Christophe Georges, President and CEO of Bentley Americas

Since 2001, the Naples Winter Wine Festival has draw in highbrow attendees globally for both its philanthropic significance and sumptuous lot, which since its inception has served over 300,000 children in need.     

Bentley Motors is pleased to partner with the Naples Winter Wine Festival for the seven consecutive years in conjunction with Bentley Naples and is dedicated to continuing its charitable efforts with the Naples Winter Wine Festival and beyond. 

Jason Reidel, Managing Partner of Bentley Naples, shared: “We choose to support the Naples Winter Wine Festival because this event is one of the largest fundraisers in the country and all the donations raised stay in Collier County and go directly to the children that need it most. Also, NCEF supports so many different organizations, rather than just one. Over 50 different organizations have received grants, which is incredible. We love our SWFL community and want to give back in as many ways as we possibly can, so NCEF/NWWF is a great way to directly impact lives of so many different people within the community. Their website reads that over 300,000 lives have been impacted since the festival has been implemented. We are helping to change the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and we hope to continue to partner with NCEF not only as a corporate partner, but also in curating exciting lots for many years to come.”

“We are thrilled to have this extraordinary vehicle auctioned at this year’s Naples Winter Wine Festival, helping to raise funds benefitting at-risk and underprivileged children in our community. This unique, one-of-a-kind car is truly stunning and builds upon our tremendous partnership with Bentley as an exceptional luxury automaker and the Naples Winter Wine Festival as one of the world’s top charity wine auctions.” 

NCEF Immediate Past Chair, Paul Hills

Automobili Lamborghini wishes Happy Holidays with a new video – Automobili Lamborghini wishes Happy Holidays to its social community with a new video: a story about how there is no future without the past and the importance of small gestures. An elderly barber is forced to close his historic barber-shop due to inactivity. A young man, who was a loyal customer as a child, in order to save the fortunes of a place dear to him, attempts to generate visibility in front of the shop by parking his Lamborghini Huracán Tecnica.

Attracted by the bright Verde Selvans car, many young people and influencers start posting photos and videos geolocating themselves in front of the barbershop where, driven by the desire to renew their look, they start entering in large numbers and, in doing so, manage to prevent the elderly barber from going bankrupt.

A contemporary story that reminds us how the present we live in and the future we desire would not be possible without the people and choices of the past.

The 2021 video has garnered around 4 million views on the official Instagram profile and 2.6 million views on YouTube. In 2022, Lamborghini’s community on the different social media channels continued to grow, reaching 32.5 million users and grew stronger, achieving more than 57M total interactions on Instagram, more than 21M views on the YouTube channel and 27.42M views on TikTok.

Lamborghini drives fundraising and awareness for Movember – More than 200 Lamborghini owners and their cars gathered at Silverstone F1 Circuit in Northamptonshire, UK on Saturday 26 November 2022, to raise awareness and funds for Movember: the leading global charity changing the face of men’s health.

The automobiles met at Lamborghini dealerships across United Kingdom, and then the ‘bull runs’ drove to Silverstone F1 Circuit in Northamptonshire. They were joined by Automobili Lamborghini Chairman and CEO Stephan Winkelmann; Board Member for Sales and Marketing Federico Foschini; and Quality Director Gerard Pachowsky, as well as Movember co-founder Justin ‘JC’ Coghlan and his wife Sarah, Movember’s Director of Global Men’s Health Promotion Programs.

Sporting moustaches on both their faces and their Lamborghini bonnets, each driver donated to Movember. The partnership initiative between the Italian super sports car firm and Movember is focused on not only raising funds for men’s health projects globally, but developing mindfulness of issues including mental health and suicide prevention, prostate and testicular cancer. Lamborghini bull runs are also taking place in other locations around the globe during the month, from Europe to the USA and Asia, dedicated to raising awareness and donations for Movember.

“We continue our collaboration with Movember, reflecting the enthusiasm of our customers, dealers and employees, who want to help impact on men’s mental and physical well-being. The men and women joining us in Silverstone, as well as so many others participating in bull run events around the world, are united in leveraging the colors, sights and sound of Lamborghini cars to create a visibility and start the kind of conversations that can help save lives.”

– Stephan Winkelmann, Lamborghini, Chairman and CEO

Lamborghini’s fundraising activities for Movember this year, comprising of 100 dealers and 1,555 Lamborghini cars worldwide, have raised more than €330,000 to date during November 2022.

About Movember

Movember is the leading global charity changing the face of men’s health. We exist to stop men dying too young by tackling some of the most complex health issues facing men today: mental health, suicide, prostate cancer and testicular cancer. What started as a single-minded fund-raising and awareness campaign in 2003 has evolved into a multi-faceted health organization with programs accessed by millions worldwide. With global support from our Mo Bros, Mo sisters and Mo community, Movember funds and delivers biomedical research, cancer survivorship programs, innovative community mental health programs and digital health products that work for men. Movember’s purpose is to confront, challenge and change men’s health to save more men’s lives. Sign up or donate now at Movember.com

BENTLEY CONTINENTAL GT SPEED NAMED CLASSIC OF THE FUTURE BY THE ‘MOTOR KLASSIK AWARDS 2022’ – Bentley Motors reveals today its first-ever ‘Motor Klassik’ award from the renowned German automotive magazine Motor Klassik. The Bentley Continental GT Speed, the most dynamic road car in Bentley’s 102 year history and ultimate performance-focused interpretation of the world’s benchmark luxury Grand Tourer has been chosen by over 18,000 readers as ‘Classic of the Future’ in the Coupé category. 

Designed, engineered, developed and handcrafted in Bentley’s carbon neutral luxury automotive factory in Crewe, this new third-generation model bodies on a long tradition of Speed variants. Originally introduced with the highly-acclaimed, first generation Continental GT Speed in 2007 – itself encouraged by the 3-Litre Speed models of the 1920s. The newest GT Speed continues the bloodline by representing the ultimate blend of luxury and performance in a Grand Touring package.

The new GT Speed is the ultimate performance-focused expression of Bentley’s definitive Grand Tourer, yet maintains the luxury, comfort and usability of its siblings. It is armed with an upgraded version of Bentley’s renowned 6.0-litre W12 TSI engine, delivering 659 PS (650 bhp) and an extraordinary 900Nm (664 lb.ft) of torque. Offering an exceptional handling, these results in a top speed of 335 km/h (208 mph) and 0-100 km/h in 3.6 seconds (0-62 mph in 3.5 seconds).

The Continental GT Speed’s credentials are further highlighted by a unique duotone colour split handcrafted in hide and matching Alcantara, which is also applied to the steering wheel. The exterior badging is matched with an elegant Speed icon on the passenger fascia.

‘We are proud that the Bentley Continental GT Speed has been awarded by the ‘Motor Klassik Award 2022’ and seeing the trophy cabinet of the Bentley GT Continental in all its forms to further expand. This latest generation of GT Speed specifically is the ultimate performance-focused interpretation of the world’s benchmark luxury Grand Tourer. We would like to thank the Motor Klassik readers for this recognition which also praises the great work done back in Crewe enabling the creation of such a future iconic model of its kind.’

– Balazs Rooz, Regional Director Europe

Bentley Motors just declared the luxury marque’s financial results for 2021, complementing the company’s record sales performance during the same 12-month period. Operating profits rose to €389 million, which was €369 million more than in 2020.  Europe made a strong contribution with the delivery of 2,520 cars, a 15 per cent increase driven by evenly split sales across model lines. 

Stellantis Suspends Production in Russia – Given the rapid daily increase in cross sanctions and logistical difficulties, Stellantis has suspended its manufacturing operations in Kaluga, Russia to ensure full obedience with all cross sanctions and to protect its employees.

It condemns violence and supports all actions capable of restoring peace.

Stellantis N.V. (NYSE / MTA / Euronext Paris: STLA) is one of the world’s leading automakers and a mobility provider. Its storied and iconic brands embody the passion of their visionary founders and today’s customers in their innovative products and services, including Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Citroën, Dodge, DS Automobiles, Fiat, Jeep_®, Lancia, Maserati, Opel, Peugeot, Ram, Vauxhall, Free2move and Leasys.

Road users should adhere to road safety protocols to avoid accidents – Ghana Road Safety Authority – The Central Region of Ghana records high of 208 deaths relating to road accidents between January and October 2020, compared to 133 in 2019 and a total of 1, 194 individuals were also wounded in the 768 motor accidents caused by 1,248 automobiles as against 766 and 1, 216 with 174 pedestrian knockdowns within the same period in 2019.

In a monitored interview after a road safety sensitization campaign at Winneba Junction in the Central Region of Ghana, Ms. Linda A. Annan, Central Regional Head of the Ghana Road Safety Authority (GRSA) conveyed her regret that current road data ranked the Central Region the fifth with high cases in Ghana.

”We Need to arrive Safely”

The road safety sensitization campaign was organized by the Ghana Road Safety Authority with support from the Ghana Police Service, the National Fire Service Fire, and the Ambulance Service, the sensitization campaign was on the theme; ”We Need to arrive Safely”, to caution road users ahead of the Christmas festivities and beyond.

Ms. Linda A. Annan disclosed that 307 motorcycles collided during the period, while 530 of the vehicles involved in the road accidents were commercial vehicles, with private vehicles numbering up to 411 as compared to 571 and 397 recorded in 2019, She credited the causes of road traffic accidents to over speeding, fatigue driving, wrongful overtaking, unqualified drivers, worn-out tyres, etc.

Ms. Annan pointed out that vehicle drivers abandoned their automobiles on the shoulders of the road and unapproved places on the roads, while immobilized automobiles were sometimes left in the middle of the roads leading to accidents. She expounded that road accidents could be avoided if road users rigorously respect road safety practices and vehicle drivers lived up to prospects and does not misbehave. And further called on pedestrians to use the right pedestrian crossing available and not to cross roads unaware of the traffic on the road. Ms Annan instructed commuters on board automobiles to courteously talk to the divers when they drive above their speed limits.

Bentleyʼs 100 TREES FOR 100 YEARS – As Bentley Motors approaches the end of its centenary year, the company is investing in a more sustainable future at its factory in Crewe by planting 100 native British trees AUTO NEWS OPINION around its site.

The project has been completed during the winter tree[1]planting season in time for National Tree Week (November 23 – December 1), which recognizes the importance of planting more trees to tackle climate change and protect biodiversity. The planted trees around the site in Crewe include ten oak trees which have been planted outside office buildings and 15 cherry trees which line the approach to the company’s main entrance on Pyms Lane.

A further 70 trees which include maple, lime, walnut, beech and elm saplings, have been planted along the boundaries of the Legends social facility. Additionally, ten fruit trees have been relocated from an area marked for development to create a new orchard outside the CW1 visitor reception area.

 “SUSTAINABLY-SOURCED WOOD HAS BEEN ONE OF BENTLEYʼS CORE INTERIOR COMPONENTS SINCE OUR BEGINNINGS 100 YEARS AGO – AND IT CONTINUES TO BE AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT OF THE UNIQUE CRAFTSMANSHIP IN OUR CARS. OUR WOOD VENEERS ARE ETHICALLY SOURCED BY EXPERTS WHO GO TO GREAT LENGTHS TO FIND THE FINEST VENEERS IN THE WORLD. WE WANTED TO PLANT TREES AROUND SITE THAT ARE NOT ONLY NATIVE BRITISH SPECIES, BUT REFLECTIVE OF THE INTERIORS THAT WE PRODUCE IN OUR CARS AND WE USE OAK, WALNUT AND MAPLE SUBSTRATES IN MULSANNE.“

-PETER BOSCH, MEMBER OF THE BOARD FOR MANUFACTURING

“TREES PLAY A VITAL ROLE IN TACKLING CLIMATE CHANGE BECAUSE THEY HELP TO IMPROVE AIR QUALITY, ABSORB CO2 AND INCREASE OXYGEN. THEY ARE ALSO IMPORTANT FOR OUR LOCAL BIODIVERSITY AND WILDLIFE AND THEY MAKE OUR LOCAL AREA A NICER PLACE TO LIVE AND WORK TOO. WEʼVE CHOSEN THE LOCATIONS CAREFULLY TO ENSURE THEY ENHANCE THE GREEN SPACES ON OUR SITE AND CAN BE ENJOYED BY BOTH OUR COLLEAGUES AND THE LOCAL COMMUNITY.“

-PETER BOSCH, MEMBER OF THE BOARD FOR MANUFACTURING

“AS BENTLEY CONTINUES TO FOCUS ON BECOMING THE MOST SUSTAINABLE LUXURY AUTOMOTIVE MANUFACTURER, THIS IS A GREAT PRACTICAL INITIATIVE TO INVEST IN THE LONG-TERM SUSTAINABILITY OF OUR SITE AND A FITTING WAY TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE END OF OUR CENTENARY YEAR.“

-PETER BOSCH, MEMBER OF THE BOARD FOR MANUFACTURING

100 Years of Extraordinary

July 10, 2019 marked Bentleyʼs 100th year – an extraordinary milestone achieved by only a few companies. A year-long series of special activities have been taking place, with celebrations at major events around the world to showcase Bentleyʼs motoring evolution over the last 100 years, and highlight its global success today and the exciting future of innovation ahead.

Beyond the Robo-Taxi: Great Customer Experiences Will Define Self-Driving – When most people talk about why autonomous vehicles will be successful, they tend to focus on the self-driving software alone. Don’t get me wrong, the self-driving system is incredibly important to develop, but it’s just one part of building a safe and scalable self-driving service that consumers can trust.

As we look to the initial launch of a commercial self-driving service in 2021, Ford is focused on what it will take for customers to embrace the technology, trust us enough to take a ride, and keep coming back.

Focusing on the customer experience is critical because the opportunities for Ford and the self-driving industry are massive. In the years to come, self-driving vehicles could help expand access to transportation, jobs and goods across numerous cities. At Ford, we know all of this is possible if you construct a service on top of the software that provides an experience centered around the customer and the customer journey every step of the way.

Scott Griffith

As we ramp up our focus on tackling the customer-facing aspects of our self-driving service, we are excited to welcome Scott Griffith to the team at Ford Autonomous Vehicle LLC. Previously the CEO of Zipcar, Scott is taking on the critical role of leading the development and execution of our go-to-market strategy.

His responsibilities will include further developing Ford’s autonomous vehicle brand and marketing, defining the customer experience and product attributes needed to deliver this vision, and building out the company’s fleet management and regional operations.

Scott is no stranger to the challenges of launching a new mobility service with large-scale operations. He spent more than a decade helping Zipcar become the largest car-share service in the U.S. Achieving that meant developing a new brand and a trusted service that drove a fundamental change in consumer behavior moving urban dwellers from car ownership to car-sharing.

leading that kind of transformation is also fundamental to the adoption of self-driving vehicles and it involves many aspects of the business that haven’t been frequently discussed, including the launch and scaling of a self-driving service. This comprises working with local municipalities, insurance providers, parking operators, first responders and many others to understand how a new self-driving service can be successfully deployed.

Fleet management is also a critical component to delivering an experience people will value and want to use again and again. Being able to operate a technology-enabled fleet with a high utilization rate and rapid recovery is critical for our self-driving service to become seen as trusted, reliable and efficient. This means developing a fleet management vision that delivers on customer expectations around cleanliness, maintenance, service recovery and durability of our self-driving vehicles. This is all important to delivering the great customer experience that Scott’s team will be focused on building.

“Finally, you have heard me talk about the importance of building a self-driving service that’s scalable and where and how big you launch is key to this. Having deployed a similar strategy at Zipcar, Scott understands the importance of perfecting the customer experience and achieving scalability city by city before expanding nationally. Operating in a limited number of cities will enable us to nail the business model and customer experience and gain a comprehensive understanding of the collaboration needed to launch an entirely new service. This will make ramping up in the next dozen cities much less difficult. There are no shortcuts when it comes to launching a self-driving vehicle or service. In fact, it is the hardest thing the auto industry has faced since people made the jump from horses to cars. We need people to trust our technology enough to get in the vehicle, and then to love the experience enough to come back. Alongside an excellent team at Argo AI that’s focused on the self-driving system and Ford engineers who know how to safely integrate advanced technology into vehicles, Scott and his team will keep us laser-focused on building a world-class service people embrace.”

– By Jim Farley, President, New Business, Technology and Strategy, Ford Motor Company

The new VW Passat is the “Best Company Car in 2019” – A successful launch year for the new VW Passat: just a few weeks after its release, the Volkswagen Passat, refined with a far-reaching update, wins the “Best Company Car in 2019” award. The new edition of this Volkswagen best-seller had already secured first place in important comparative tests, underlining that the new Passat is also among the best business models on the market.

The “Best Company Car” award, introduced by the editorial team at AUTO BILD as a reader’s choice competition, was won by the new Passat in the high-volume “mid-size” category. The Passat is the blueprint for automobiles in this award category.

Direct quote from AUTO BILD:-

“These company cars are mostly driven on national highways and motorways, in mid- to long-range journeys. Extensive comfort and assistance systems make long trips more pleasant and safer…”

In fact, with the equipment details that come fitted as standard – such as LED headlights and LED tail light clusters, the Front Assist area monitoring system plus Pedestrian Monitoring, Lane Assist lane keeping system, Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Keyless Start, an infotainment system including a mobile phone interface, smartphone connection via App Connect, and many mobile online services – the new Passat offers an excellent price/performance ratio even in the basic version (from €31,93001).

The engines of the Passat are efficient and sustainable – from turbocharged petrol engines (TSI) through turbo diesel engines (TDI) to the Passat GTE with plug-in hybrid drive (160 kW/218 PS)02. In comparative testing by renowned automotive trade journals, the new Passat came out on top time and time again.

Two examples: In the AUTO ZEITUNG test, the Passat Estate 2.0 TDI with 140 kW/190 PS03 beat its key competitors: As judged by the testers: “With the model maintenance measures undertaken, the VW Passat Estate has cemented its dominant position in the mid-size category…”

In the comparison performed by AUTO BILD, the Passat 2.0 TSI with 140 kW/190 PS04 also takes top place.

The panel members summarised its quality features as follows:

“A roomy vehicle interior, balanced driving characteristics, fantastic multimedia and safety…” – In short: a perfect business car.