Bentley Corniche Reviews

Mix the Mountain with GT3 action — and a stellar show of exotics is lured to Bathurst.

Low interest rates helped drive massive growth for new-car sales as Australians treated themselves to a record number of luxury cars.

The first six Ferrari 488s have just landed in Australia. Let’s call that $3 million of Christmas cheer.

Damien Reid road tests and reviews the 2016 Bentley Bentayga with specs, fuel consumption and verdict at its international launch.

Luxury brands vie for attention with opulence and drop-tops.

Ewan Kennedy road tests and reviews the Bentley Continental GT V8 S Concours Series Black with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

The country's biggest car dealer group, Automotive Holdings, has added an up-market touch to its presence in hometown Perth with the $58 million purchase of the Mercedes-Benz franchise from local bizoid Ian Goldie.Not that the Merc marque quite has the cachet it used to. Entry-level models these days start at $50,000 — not much more than a high spec Conformodore — and industry stats show the Benzes outselling names such as Honda, Kia, Ford and Mitsubishi.So relative to AHG's Porsche and Bentley franchises, AHG is picking up more of a masstige (mass prestige) business than a truly luxury one.AHG chief Bronte Howson adds that however you want to describe it, the luxury sector is "driving" the growth in the overall market, which had a bumper June.The purchase, AHG's biggest since paying $68m for 13 Newcastle dealerships in August last year, came after industry figures showed the new car market zoomed up 6.4 per cent in June.But Howson believes one vaunted reason for the strength — the immediate $20,000 deduction for business-related equipment — has been overplayed. "Any assistance or stimulus is good, but we didn't hear a lot of people saying ‘this is great'," he said.The more likely reasons for the strength include manufacturer promotion activity and record high car affordability.The conditions point to an ongoing purple patch for AHG and the Brisbane-based Eagers.With a WA bias, AHG had suffered from the mining downturn, but these headwinds appear to have abated.Across the continent, Eagers has benefited from storm-related replacement activity.AHG doesn't do trading updates, so we will assume the consensus guidance of $90m net profit remains intact.At its May AGM, Eagers reiterated expectations of an underlying first (June)-half profit of $54m-$58m, a 17-26 per cent increase.

Two smaller new models, an SUV and a quick coupe, are racing to join the Bentley family.

Bentley has just confirmed a 3.5-tonne tow capacity for its upcoming Bentayga with a suitable towball load rating for the super-luxury SUV.It is also fitting a special rear-view camera and electrically operated tow hitch to make it easier to attach a back-end loading job to the $400,000-plus luxury truck."The tow capacity is 3.5 tonnes," the engineering director at Bentley, Rolf Frech, reveals to CarsGuide.Bentley will be taking the SUV to Iceland next year to drive up a glacier"I do not have the exact ball weighting, but it will be sufficient."Frech says development of the Bentayga has included all possible SUV requirements, including the 'Big Red' sand dune in the Dubai desert and luxury towing."Bentley has to be authentic. Do we assume our customers will go there? Of course not. But the success story of SUVs around the world also has to do with the escape potential."Bentley's CEO, Wolfgang Durheimer, confirms the Bentayga can conquer 'Big Red', but says his objective was the much tougher downwind side of the dune than the sloping upwind edge tackled by most four-wheel drives. And he reveals Bentley will be taking the SUV to Iceland next year to drive up a glacier.On the towing capacity, the two men say the Bentayga can handle anything and the luxury approach means a hands-off hitch. Instead of lifting or winching, the driver uses the rear-view camera to line up the towball with the hitch and then presses a button to make the connection."We also have an air spring to help with connecting the tow hitch," Frech says.

Plans for a one-make series to rival or surpass the Ferrari 458 Challenge are well under way at Bentley's home in Crewe, the company's chief reveals to CarsGuide."For the future we are at present evaluating the potential of a luxury one-make cup, and this could take place on four continents, for about 25 entries," Wolfgang Durheimer, CEO of Bentley, says at the Goodwood Festival of Speed."We organise everything. We do everything. They have high-performance racing with high-performance cars."We want to be the number oneDurheimer says the Bentley racers would be positioned midway between the company's road-going Continental and the GT3 racing version of the same car, which challenged for victory in this year's Bathurst 12-Hour race and is returning to Mount Panorama in 2016.He says air-conditioning will be essential in the cars, since he expects the series will attract well-funded 'gentleman' drivers without the skill or fitness of full-time professionals.But he is keen on the championship and what it can bring to Bentley buyers who want more than just a road car."Once you are signed in you have luxury track time in a high-performance car. I hope that we come to a good conclusion."Durheimer also confirms for the first time that the Continental GT3 program will continue beyond the original three-year commitment, which has now seen 19 cars built for racing."Don't assume we stop next year. Racing is part of our DNA. We are already evaluating the potential of the next car," he says."Emotionally, it can drive our company to new horizons. Internally, it helps us to work in a very discipled way and to be competitive and win."We want to be the number one and we intend to be the winner in the luxury performance game. We like to do the extraordinary things, not what everybody does."