Green has always been an essential part of the Bentley experience… lots and lots of green. But today the British automaker unveiled its plan to join the wave of manufacturers offering more environmentally-friendly drivetrains. You know; eventually. The German-owned British brand will begin its transformation from maker of CO2-spewing playthings for the over-moneyed set to eco-conscious planetary champions by offering a flex-fuel option next year. ("James, take the Bentley down to London and fill it up with ethanol"). By 2015, Bentley will provide E85 compatibility across their entire lineup (all six models). And while you're recovering from that shock, the Bentley Boyz will begin development of an unspecified drivetrain that will deliver 40 percent better fuel efficiency than their normal gas-sucking mills. In the short term, Bentley says its socially responsible engineering efforts will focus on enhanced engine management; new, improved transmissions and drivelines and weight reduction. Torque about greenwashing…

Yeah, this isn't exactly as earth-shattering as the introduction of a new Corvette, or even a new Mazda6. But this little car is significant to the auto industry in so many ways. First, it signals that Mazda is finally ready to start really competing with the Euro-zone's mainstream manufacturers, who nearly all offer three-door versions of their small cars (Mazda still doesn't sell a three-door Mazda3, for example). Second, this is, potentially, a great little car [sic]. Compared to the past generation, Mazda has reduced the vehicle's weight by more than just the two missing doors. That's right: debloat. Finally, the Mazda2 is likely coming to America in a year or two, although it'll probably be the sedan version because apparently we Americans really like sedans. The new 2– especially with the automatic– may not be a revelation to drive, but it's another strong contender in the increasingly vital cheap and cheerful category.

[Pixamo gallery of the Mazda2 here.] 

Deutsche Welle reports that Porsche is officially the Maus that Roared. Porsche Automobil Holdings will shell-out $15b for the final 20 percent of Volkswagen shares. Subject to regulatory approval, Porsche will gain controlling interest in Europe's largest automaker. Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking called the deal "a new and collegial partnership"– immediately evoking unpleasant memories of Daimler’s "merger of equals" with Chrysler. Anyway, there’s a lot of work to be done: VW’s non-existent market positioning, overlapping brands, U.S. product quality, etc. Still, if there's even a remote chance that Porsche’s takeover– sorry, “assistance” will lead to stateside VW's becoming even a little more Porsche-like, the deal has our unqualified blessing. We’re not holding our breath.

Well here we go from Geneva. Saab pulled the giant sheet off the 9-X concept car. And not surprisingly, it's really good looking. We can tell that because it looks a lot like the other Saab concepts that they've shown but not built. This one, however, is destined for production in one form or another. It even has a really cool gimmicky integrated power-operated rear spoiler on the roof. A 1.4-liter turbocharged engine makes 170 horses, or 200 if you can find/afford E85 (for the sake of the children, please don't). The 9-X also features a hybrid system, but GM isn't saying how much power it'll contribute. Now the but. But…they're going to build it on the Delta platform that underpins such awesome cars as the Chevy Cobalt, Saturn Ion, Pontiac G5, and Chevy HHR. Oh the horror…

[Pixamo gallery of the now-you-see-it-now-you-won't 9-X here] 

The Economic Times of India reports that Tata's any-day-now-they-swear $2b acquisition of Land Rover and Jaguar has been delayed by the Unite union's insistence that Jag continue to source powertrains from Ford's UK plants. (The two brands will be kept as a single package because Jag and Landie share UK-sourced powertrain components.) Ford PR flacks aren't concerned that these unresolved issues may prevent the deal from going through by the projected March fifth deadline. "There will be a strong relationship between Ford and Jaguar-Land Rover post the sale, so it's important any agreements are fully understood by all the parties and work to the mutual benefit of all concerned. However, this shouldn't be seen as a delay or issue or roadblocks in the process." This should probably be taken with a grain of salt, considering Ford previously claimed the announcement had been held back "so as not to overshadow the launch of the new Fiesta at the upcoming Geneva Auto Show." Insert mirthless laugh here.

In the eternal quest for growth and profits, Land Rover is taking their image– which is one of the most focused in the auto industry– and stretching it to include yet another new soft-roader. Yes, rivet counters will recognize this as the same Land Rover LRX concept that we saw in Detroit, only spray painted black. It still looks pretty slick. But the press release just reeks of brand erosion. "The positioning of LRX could be described as moving subtly from traditional SUV to crossover, with its more car-like appearance and dynamics that are sportier and on-road biased." Screw that. Land Rover should be off-road biased. Although the LRX "promises the widest breadth of capability in the class" that means little when you're comparing its mud-plugging talents to a Honda CR-V's. Land Rover claims they're trying to gauge public interest with this model, but if you ask me, it's just Range Rover Sport redux.Hopefully, the brand's new owners will abandon this senseless pursuit of the BMW X3/Infiniti EX/Mercedes GLK/Audi Q5/Acura RDX, etc.

Morgan has long been known as the maker of quirky British cars with technology, materials and looks straight from the early 20th century. With the de rigeur pre-Geneva release of its jointly developed prototype Lifecar, it seems that Morgan has decided to skip a hundred years or so of automotive development and go straight to fuel cells. Based on the Morgan Aero 8, co-developed by a consortium of British Universities and defense companies, the Lifecar concept features a relatively small 22kw fuel cell. With supercapacitors replacing batteries and regenerative braking, the Lifecar is pegged to scoot to 60mph in seven seconds and have a 250 mile range (now why does that sound so familiar?). The key to Lifecar's performance: a lean 1,500lb curb weight. Morgan's woodworking prowess helped give the Aero 8's crash diet a little class, fitting the concept with a super-lightweight wooden interior and seats. Morgan is not ruling out possible Lifecar production if there's an "enormous response." And if the idea of a totally silent lightweight Coupe based on an unavailable fuel source doesn't tickle your "enormous response," Morgan might just throw in a pair of headphones which will playback the sound of their five-liter V8 in time with the movements of your right foot. Now where's that checkbook?

We've just received info from Autobild on the Volkswagen Golf TDI Hybrid by way of yet another unauthorized embargo break (funeral for the embargo system will be held next Tuesday; in lieu of flowers, send donations to me). You know what's ridiculous about this car? It's got a hair over 100 horsepower, but likely gobs of torque from a diesel engine and electric motor. But the Prius-kicking stat: 69 miles per gallon. Hooah! Is it coming to America? There's no info one way or the other. I speculate that it might, since VW has announced plans for bringing more diesels here, and this will surely have lower particle emissions by virtue of an engine that's not even on below 25 miles per hour (that's a guess). What's more, the 1.4 liter powerplant comes from the current Volkswagen Polo Bluemotion. For normal people that don't follow the European car market, that's VeeDub's fairly clean diesel engine. Clean? High miles per gallon? Getting whooped by Toyota? Sounds like VW needs this car in North America STAT– assuming it can hit 60 in 10 seconds (the car, not the country).

The famously chauvinistic German monthly Auto, Motor & Sport (AM&S) recently gave the Toyota Land Cruiser 4.5 V8 the thumbs down. They called it uneconomical, expensive and declaimed the uncomfortable rear seats. The major (and headline-making) factor: AM&S says the Cruiser's brakes suck. More politely, they "perform miserably." To reach this conclusion, the Germans conducted ten braking tests. With cold brakes, the Land Cruiser needed 44 meters to come to a halt from 100 – 0 km/h. When the brakes were hot, the car needed an "alarming" 56 meters to come to a complete stop. Hang on, who carries out repeated high-speed panic stops with a 4X4, or an SUV? For its part, AM&S says there's no real reason why a SUV has to fail this test, since the Mercedes GL and G models fare way better (natch). In the past, many cars from Toyota and Lexus have performed poorly in the braking department in various Auto Motor & Sport tests. The Land Cruiser joins the Jeep Wrangler & Commander, Mitsubishi L200, Hummer H2 and Cadillac Escalade as the worst braking SUV's tested so far. Of course, a SUV that's used for lugging a trailer through the Rockies needs good brakes, but it seems likely that better testing criteria could be found for this task.

Audi is going to milk its diesel car win at the 24 hours of Le Mans (as opposed to Lee Marvin) by throwing high performance diesel engines in every concept car from Switzerland to Michigan. We Yanks saw the Audi R8 V12 TDI back in early January at the NAIAIAIAIAS in Detroit. For Geneva, the "brand of four rings" is making the Q7 SUV even more loco (as in locomotive) by fitting it with a ludicrous V12 up front. The 5.9-liter unit (they'll probably call it 6.0-liter since Audi has displacement OCD) makes 500 horsepower and could crush coal into diamonds with 737 ft.-lbs. of torque from a mere 1500 rpm on up (not far, but you can't have everything). The result is a sprint from 0 – 60 in a Porsche Cayenne Turbo-like 5.5 seconds. The oil burning Q7's mileage is a relatively amazing 20 mpg (compared to the Cayenne Turbo's 14 mpg). Will it be a nose heavy pig like the VW V10 TDI Toureg? Audi's press pack claim the engine has all manner of expensive exotic weight-saving materials; it is after all the first passenger car to go on sale with a V12 diesel. As for sale in the U.S., two words: exchange rates. Or: no deal. Regardless, the Q7 V12 TDI is so insane you can't help but like it. Just as long as you don't look at it. 

[Click here for the Pixamo gallery of Q7 V12 TDI gallery] 

Ex-Toyota and current Chrysler president Jim Press says every car his new employer makes— or will make once the automaker starts/finishes their long-promised model cull– will be a hybrid. Eventually. Meanwhile, Popular Mechanics claims the Prez' promise was "the first by a major auto executive that openly embraces hybrid technology as an across-the board sea change.” Nope. As we reported previously, Toyota executive vice president Kazuo Okamoto predicted Synergy Drive would become ToMoCo’s default drivetrain. Anyway, we've heard nothing about/from Chrysler's semi-independent "ENVI" hybrid development team since the Detroit Auto Show's awkward concept cars. And speaking of champagne dreams and caviar wishes, Press said Chrysler plans to build and sell as many Chrysler-branded products overseas as are currently sold in the U.S. (roughly 2.7m units). Again, no idea of what, when or where. Why? Because they like you.

In another of the long, slow trickle of sneak peeks of vehicles set to premiere at the Geneva Auto Show (just hold the damn show already people!), Italian design atelier Zagato has released the first official shots of its Bentley Zagato GTZ. Following the tradition of years of luscious Zagato re-skins of unattainable British whips, the design adds sleeker lines, crisp folds and its trademark double-bubble roof to the already hot Bentley GT Speed. A two-tone paint scheme in British Racing Green, a toned rear-end and Zagato's "Z" emblem on the front quarter round out the subtle, yet wholly distinctive re-skin. Like every other Zagato concept, the GTZ is being called a non-production prototype designed to inspire enough money-no-object offers from the bloated plutocrats of the world to eventually produce a tiny run of GTZs. We'll start looking for the whip on the streets of Monaco once several prominent charities begin to report downturns in donations in the next year or so.

On a you-can't-make-this-up page of news briefs from Moscow News Weekly (featuring such hilariously Russian headlines as "Newborn Babies Dumped In Chelyabinsk's Trash" and "Lemur Smugglers Caught In Southwest Russia") comes a little warning to companies looking to cash-in on Russia's booming car market. Thirty-six-year-old Vyaches­lav Shirshov was found stabbed to death in his apartment in the town of Tolyatti. Shirsov was the head of procurement for the enormous AvtoVAZ group, known to the west as the makers of the infamous Lada. The responsibility of choosing raw material suppliers is a risky proposition, at least in Russia, as investigators are pointing to Shirsov's job as the likely cause of his untimely death. The news brief concludes by stating that Tolyatti "has a reputation for turf wars between criminal gangs seeking control over the lucrative auto industry." As GM has been in business in this quaint little burg since 2001 (jointly manufacturing the Chevy Niva with AvtoVAZ), it has no reason to worry about it's recently announced joint venture just up the Volga in Nizhny Novgorod. I'm sure it's figured out whom to bribe by now.

Mercedes has announced another new vehicle for the Geneva auto show. Since they're too cool for the word "concept," it's called the "Vision GLK BLUETEC HYBRID." In caps lock. So remember it. It's a diesel electric hybrid, pairing Benz's well-reviewed 2.2-liter straight four oil burner with an electric motor. The numbers we care about: 224, 400, 40 and 7.3. That's horses, ft.-lbs. of torque, miles per gallon and 0 – 60. All in all, them's some impressive stats– especially when you consider that this is a big, heavy, boxy SUV (it's also noxiously fugly). The powertrain might yield truly earth shattering data in the C-Class sedan, but hey, this hybrid SUV doubles the mileage of the equivalent gas-fed V6, without any impact on performance. Diesel electric is also a nice idea because it minimizes particulate emissions when you start the car and while driving at slow speeds around town. The GLK goes on sale here in 2008. As for the powertrain, Benz specifically mentions that it meets America's "stringent" BIN5 standard. But not, perhaps, our aesthetic sensibilities…

[View the GLK BLUETEC HYBRID Pixamo Gallery here.]