Bentley GTC Convertible makes North
American Debut at LA Auto Show
Los Angeles - Bentley Motors unfolds its
new Continental GTC at the Los Angeles Convention Center this week in
its first public unveiling to the North American market. The Bentley
stand will also show the next generation of mobile connectivity with the
Mulsanne Executive Interior Concept – a new multimedia experience
designed for executives inside the luxurious, hand-crafted cabin of the
company’s flagship Mulsanne.
“Los Angeles is the ideal location for
Bentley to launch the luxurious and powerful GTC convertible,” said
Alasdair Stewart, Bentley’s Member of the Board for Sales and Marketing.
“Southern California remains the most successful market for Bentley in
the US, and the US remains the largest market in the world for the
Company. New model introductions, such as the GTC convertible – which
will reach US customers later this year – and the new GT coupe – which
went on sale in the spring – have helped Bentley global sales grow by a
third in 2011.”
Bentley sales to the end of October
increased 33% to 5,379 putting the Company on track to reach its target
of 7000 cars sold this year. US sales are in line with this increase,
with the new Continental GT coupe accounting for 37% of all sales in the
market - despite reaching showrooms only in April. The US market
accounts for roughly half the world’s Bentley convertible sales making
it the number one market for the new Continental GTC. Bentley’s exciting
new product line up, together with a dealer network now expanded to 48
with the opening of Bentley Nashville, means that there is a great deal
of confidence for 2012.
This confidence is bolstered by the
ongoing high demand for Bentleys in other markets. China has continued
its unprecedented sales growth, up nearly 90% over 2010; Sales in
Germany are up by around 60% and in the United Kingdom Bentley’s market
share in the luxury segment is now more than 25%, making it the clear
market leader.
2012 Bentley Continental GTC
All eyes will, however, be on the new
Continental GTC. The Breeze-colored drophead GTC debuting at the LA Auto
Show features a custom, coach-built appearance and crisper lines, thanks
to aluminum superformed front wings, and, in the rear, the
double-horseshoe design first seen on Bentley’s flagship Mulsanne.
Below the surface, the GTC rockets from
0-60 in 4.5 seconds thanks to a hand-built 567hp powerplant that boasts
516 lb-ft of torque, and a Quickshift transmission that improves
acceleration response times and cuts shift times to only 200 miliseconds.
The GTC’s chassis, the stiffest of any convertible in the world,
provides a firm foundation for suspension control, minimizing scuttle
shake and contributing to the GTC’s refined handling.
The GTC interior features luxurious wood
and leather craftsmanship, for which Bentley is renowned, alongside
class-leading technology, such as eight-inch touch-screen infotainment
system, and zip-code entry navigation, all supported by a 30-gigabyte
hard drive. To ensure drivers and passengers alike enjoy an extended
top-down driving season, the GTC now features neck warmers in the rear
headrests of its cobra-head designed slim-line seats. With the top up,
acoustics have improved thanks to the addition of acoustically-sensitive
undersheet, wheel liners, front and side glass and a three-layer roof
with a rubber-film middle layer.
The new Bentley GTC convertible will enter
the US market in late 2011, with an MSRP of $212,800.
Bentley Mulsanne Executive Interior
Concept
The LA show will also show, for the first
time outside Europe, Bentley’s cutting edge Mulsanne Executive Interior
Concept. This multimedia connectivity concept offers an impressive array
of bespoke business, comfort and entertainment features - designed to
allow customers to conduct business on the move or just unwind between
meetings - all beautifully integrated into the sumptuous and comfortable
cabin which takes more than 170 hours to create.
Mulsanne rear passengers receive
individual Apple iPad workstations with full internet access (integrated
into retractable picnic tables) whilst a large, drop-down LED screen
ensures that a wide selection of movies as well as television can also
be enjoyed.
Renowned for its painstaking attention to
detail, Bentley has added a range of finishing touches including a
Tibaldi fountain pen from its specially commissioned Collection which is
designed to mirror the Mulsanne’s knurled-metal rotary switchgear and
which is discretely stowed in the center armrest. The car also features
– for the first time on a Bentley - a distinctive Yachting-style veneer,
which blends light and dark contrasting tones, throughout the cabin.
Both the new Continental GTC and the
Mulsanne Executive Interior Concept can be seen on the Bentley stand in
the Concourse Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Centre.
