ASTON BENTLEY: TWO VERY BRITISH ICONS
VW bought Bentley from Vickers in ’98, bringing new broom to Crewe. VW still owns it, but Porsche has charge of Bentley, Audi and Lambo. No bad thing: Conti is based on the Panamera platform.
Stefan Siela since 2016, who believes ‘the aesthetic has to be guided by pure elegance’. Current work suitably stately and confidently wrought – even the Bentayga is getting easier on the eye.
Shifts 10,500 units per year but lost money on every car sold through 2018. Porsche and Piech families issued ultimatum to be profitable within a couple of years at the start of 2019.
The 6.0-litre W12 in our Conti and the anachronistic 6.75-litre in the Mulsanne are both Bentley’s alone. The rest are VW: 4.0-litre V8 diesel and petrol, and V6 plug-in hybrid.
Six Le Mans wins are testament to Bentley’s unstressed performance and durability. Which rather overshadows its current involvement in Intercontinental GT, Blancpain and British GT.
1 Which OEM are you snuggled up with?
Aston has Italian and Kuwaiti investors, and Mercedes has a five per cent stake. Which helps explain the supply of AMG V8s in crates to Gaydon and the Merc-borrowed electronic architecture.
2 Who’s bringing the beauty?
Marek Reichman, who’s finally had the freedom to develop an all-new range of cars after years putting the same old models in new clothes and pushing them back out on the catwalk.
BENTLEY 3 Business kicking ass?
Not so much. Shifts 7000 cars annually, but £80m loss in first half of 2018, and slow sales in UK and Europe dropped share price below £5, leaving Aston worth a quarter of its value one year earlier.
4 Engines to die for?
Merc’s twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 and Aston’s own 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12. Rapide limps on with naturally-aspirated V12. Valkyrie gets Cosworth V12. New hybrid V6 in development.
5 Winning on track?
Aston won its class at Le Mans 2017, had a nightmare since, but gets its name all over Verstappen’s, erm, Honda-powered Red Bull F1 car… Might supply engines if future regs suit.