BENTLEY CAPE TOWN RELAUNCHES, NEW MODEL ANNOUNCED

Bentley Cape Town was recently relaunched in spectacular fashion with champagne and VIP guests from far and wide. Bentley Motors GM of South Africa Rens Rademeyer (pictured) presided over the proceedings. The new dealership has been completely refurbished to resemble what a proper Bentley point of interaction with its customers should look like.

A new aftersales facility was also opened at the same time with Ricardo Adams appointed to head it up. Regional Director: Bentley Motors Middle East and Africa Chris Buxton was also at hand to congratulate the new place and he had a few choice words of interest for the attending guests.

“Factories with many Robots, and few people,” he said. “At Bentley, however, we have only one robot in the production hall and everything else is hand built by craftsmen back at Crewe.”

He went on to state that “It takes about 660 man hours to build a Bentley in comparison to 5 to 10 to build a normal car. You can choose from 6.25 billion different colour and trim combinations; even the wood on each vehicle takes 13 weeks to manufacture.”

A highlight of Buxton’s speech was the mention of the Bentley Continental Supersports, the most powerful and fastest road Bentley ever built. The car was first unveiled to the public at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show back in March. It features a 6.0-litre twin turbo motor that spews out 463kW (630hp) and peak torque of 800Nm which it makes at 1700rpm. Bentley says the Continental Supersports will flick from 0 – 100km/h in 3.9 seconds and top off at 330km/h. To stop it dead on its tracks the most powerful ceramic brakes ever installed on a production car are available.

But the most interesting part is that the Continental Supersports can run on biofuel, making it the most enviro-friendly Bentley ever built.

With unprecedented growth and profitability within its cusp, Bentley looks forward to a powerful presence not only in South Africa but in the world at large as well.

BMW X1: FIGURES AND CLEAR PICTURES AT LAST

We finally have all the details pertaining to the upcoming BMW X1. After a whole lot of teasing by BMW we now even have clear pictures. As you can see from the name, the X1 is a small SUV which shares its heritage with the 1 Series. This should be the smallest BMW-badged SUV in the range, unless the company decides to create a 0 Series.

South Africa will receive its first shipment of the X1 some time in 2010 but there are plans afoot to launch it in Europe this summer. The X1 looks like a masala of a number of BMW cars. From the large, bold front grille with for example, we can see the new 7 Series. Of course the other X vehicles are evident in the ride height and other SUV characteristics.

Measuring 4.45 metres in length, 1.545 metres in height and with a 2.76 metre wheelbase the X1 is not too small. In fact its dimensions are almost the same as the X3, which means the next X3 will be almost as big as the previous X5.

For a “baby” car the X1 seems well-equipped, even if a lot of that equipment does not come standard. What we’re talking about here are things like a USB port, Park Distance Control, iDrive, a rear parking camera, Bluetooth connectivity and others.

Power comes from both petrol and turbo diesels. There’s the sDrive18d with its 105kW and 320Nm, followed by the sDrive20d making 130kW and 350Nm. The two diesels are designated sDrive because they are two-wheel-drive.

Fitted with the xDrive 4-wheel-drive system are the xDrive18d with the same power and the xDrive20d producing 130kW and 350Nm of torque. Higher than that is the xDrive23d of 150kW and a massive 400Nm. It’s the twin turbo 2.0-litre diesel getting things done under the bonnet. The only petrol model in this range is the xDrive28i which does 190kW.

RENAULT NISSAN IN 1OO ELECTRIC CAR TEST IN PARIS BY 2010

RENAULT SAYS: The Renault Nissan Alliance and EDF have announced the launch of a large-scale electric vehicle test in the Paris region. Under the terms of the agreement signed on October 9, 2008 by Pierre Gadonneix, CEO of EDF, and Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault and Nissan, the two partners plan to test the development of electric mobility for the first time in France during real-life trials in the Paris region.

For one year from September 2010, consumers, professionals and local government employees will try out 100 electric Renault-Nissan Alliance passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. They will be able to use a charging infrastructure at home, at the workplace, in car parks and on the public highway. The experiment has been made possible by a technical and financial partnership between all the public and private parties involved.

The Renault Nissan Alliance and EDF plan to use the full-scale trial to test the usage and performance of their future electric vehicles. The vehicles will be identical to the series-produced models scheduled for launch at the start of 2011.

This joint initiative by the Renault Nissan Alliance and EDF is supported by the Paris region and Yvelines local authorities. It was devised in close cooperation with the "Etablissement Public d’Aménagement du Mantois Seine-Aval” (EPAMSA) local planning body.

The project, called SAVE (Seine Aval Véhicules Electriques), will involve a number of private partners. A file has been submitted to the French Energy Management Agency (ADEME) as part of the invitation for expressions of interest announced on June 26, 2009. The project will be launched only after the financing necessary for its implementation has been approved.