Continental GT

Make
Bentley
Segment
Coupe

If it seemed to you that like the luxury SUV segment was reaching endlessly up-market, you're right. The latest Range Rover is more expensive than any previous version, and companies like Maserati, Lamborghini, Bentley, Spyker and Aston Martin Lagonda are all working on upscale sport-utes of their own. But while Lamborghini and Bentley wait for their mutual parent company Volkswagen to give them the green light for the Urus and EXP 9 F, respectively, they may have to wait a while, according to the latest report from Automotive News Europe.

With Europe's economy in the toilet, Volkswagen is looking at ways to trim costs and hold on to its cash reserves. Producing new high-end SUVs may be one way for the German auto giant to save itself while the European economy recovers and sales recuperate. Lamborghini and Bentley, however, appear to be continuing development in the meantime. Both brands are counting on their respective SUV programs to increase their volumes significantly and pursue the same profitability that Porsche found with its Cayenne model.