Fast Lane: 8 Bentley Bacalars delivered, global car sales to peak in 2036

Eight units of Bentley's specially handcrafted Bacalar have been delivered to customers around the world. The remaining four will be delivered soon.

Each car is highly customised, with an array of bespoke specifications. All the cars were made in Bentley Mulliner's division in Crewe, England, with each taking around six months to complete.

The Bacalar is a two-seat convertible based on the Bentley EXP 100 GT concept car. It retails for up to US$2 million (S$2.74 million) in the United States, which means it could cost between S$6 million and S$8 million if one was imported to Singapore.

The Bacalar will be followed by another Mulliner project, which will be revealed soon.

BloombergNEF (BNEF), a research arm of the news and data provider, expects the global vehicle fleet to grow for at least another decade before tapering off.

The passenger fleet will grow from 1.2 billion units today to a record of just over 1.5 billion in 2039, with annual sales to peak in 2036 - ending more than a century of growth.

This trend is driven largely by a changing population mix.

According to United Nations numbers, Europe's working-age population will drop by 11 per cent by 2040, while Japan and South Korea's will shrink more than 20 per cent. China - the world's largest vehicle market - will see its working-age population contract 14 per cent.

Over the same period, the share of the global population that is 69 years or older rises to 10 per cent from 4 per cent.

Urbanisation is another major driver in BNEF's outlook. A rising number of people living in highly congested megacities will find owning a passenger vehicle more costly or less convenient.

Jaguar Land Rover has opened a new facility which tests the next generation of vehicles for electrical and radio interference. The Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) laboratory in Gaydon, England, will ensure that future vehicles meet current and new legislation and quality standards for connectivity and electronics.

The new Range Rover Sport, launched in May, was the first vehicle to undergo a bespoke testing programme at the in-house facility.

A critical aspect of vehicle performance, EMC is the ability of electrical equipment and systems to function correctly in their electromagnetic environment. It works by limiting the unintentional generation, propagation and reception of electromagnetic energy to reduce the risk of unwanted effects such as electromagnetic interference.

Ahead of its premiere in mid-August, Lamborghini's revised Urus has set a new record among production sport utility vehicles at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

Hill Climb champion and Pirelli test driver Simone Faggioli completed the route in 10 minutes, 32.064 seconds. The timed attack started from an altitude of 2,862m and ended at 4,302m, with 156 turns across 20km and an average gradient of 7 per cent.

The Urus bested the current race-day record of 10:49.902 held by Rhys Millen, set in 2018, in a Bentley Bentayga.

Rodin Cars of New Zealand has revealed a hyper track car, Rodin FZero, that is capable of exceeding 360kmh. With 1,176hp from a new 4-litre V10 twin-turbo hybrid motor as well as a kerb weight of only 698kg, the car is expected to have a power-to-weight ratio of 1,684.8hp per tonne. Only 27 units are planned for sale.