Believe it or not, 96 isn’t too old to have growing pains, as Bentley is now discovering. The brand has big ambitions for its future but seems to be coming up short of them at the moment. Bentley’s China operation is already 1,500 units behind schedule this year, and hundreds of cars have been reported sold without ever leaving dealer lots in major European markets like Great Britain. Rebates will invariably continue to increase; and resale values could potentially drop even faster.

2017 Bentley Bentayga
Soon after, Bentley will begin sprucing up its lineup, starting with a revised Mulsanne that’ll debut at the 2016 Geneva auto show. The disappointingly slow-selling, top-of-the-range sedan from Crewe receives a proper facelift with a wider, more upright grille, a squarer front end, restyled headlamps, and three brick-shaped air intakes in the bumper.
During an interview at the 2015 Frankfurt show, Bentley CEO Wolfgang Durheimer made it clear that the Mulsanne is high on his priority list.

Bentley Grand Convertible concept
“Wait for the next motor shows to come and what we have to announce, but I can tell you that we are taking close care about the Mulsanne,” he said. “Mulsanne will get further derivatives, and we are going to enlarge this beautiful flagship model line.”
“With EXP10 Speed 6, we are in the similar situation to where we were with Bentayga when we first showed it in Geneva in 2012. This car has gone on a route around the world, we tested all major markets and with a lot of customers and the basic answer was the same: Don’t ask us questions, just do it,” Durheimer said. “So, it’s a so-called ‘no brainer’ and we are intensively working on the business case and we intend to hand it off for approval after Bentagya is on the market [next summer]. I’m confident that with EXP10 Speed 6 we will find a good solution.”

Bentley EXP10 Speed 6 concept
Right now, the plan is to launch the Speed 6 in late 2019 with a 600-hp twin-turbo V-8. Then we’d see a Speed 6 convertible in 2020, together with a new Continental GT3 and a facelifted Bentayga.
Despite the challenges the brand faces, Durheimer appears very happy with where Bentley is headed. “From a two seat sports car, to a Mulsanne long wheelbase, to the Bentayga we will have a lineup at Bentley Motors that will create a great success for us.”