Bentley to launch V8 range

Synonymous with the unique twin turbo W12, an assortment of variants, including a brand entry Continental GT, will run an Audi-sourced V8. Wolfgang Duerheimer, chief executive of the Volkswagen Group-owned ultra luxury marque, tells Carsguide "it will not be many motor shows before we (officially) announce it".

"It will be a group engine and it will be developed with our own calibration and our own settings." While Duerheimer refused to be specific, the engine in question is almost certain to be the 4.0-litre direct injection twin turbo V8 soon to debut in Audi's S6 and S7.

While the fearsome emissions of the W12 - almost  380 grams of Co2 per km - are ameliorated across the VW Group, the Crewe UK based marque is not immune to the global push to downsize engines.

Increasingly that pressure is coming not only from European legislators, but those of China whose new money elite comprise Bentley's second biggest market after the US.

More affordable variants, as bent eights would certainly be, are also central to Duerheimer's push to get the iconic brand's sales back to five figures annually, as they were before the GFC.

The primary sales shove will come in the form of a new SUV, but Durheimer says this would run only a 12-cylinder engine.

Bentley's Asia Pacific spokesman Robin Peel says that while the eight is born of necessity it also represents a reconnection with its pre-VW Group heritage.

"After all, we ran a V8 for more than 50 years," he says. "It's en engine we would expect to have appeal for Australians given your enthusiasm for V8s."