New £250,000 Bentley unveiled

There's nothing like taking your new product directly to its target audience and Bentley has done exactly that with its new Mulsanne saloon. The car, which replaces the Arnage at the top of the Bentley range, was revealed at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in California - a car show that attracts the sort of supremely wealthy clientele Bentley will be selling the Mulsanne to.

Details of the new flagship saloon are limited, Bentley due to reveal technical information at the Frankfurt Show in September, but it's safe to say it'll be very fast and hugely comfortable. The design team has achieved exactly what you'd expect from Bentley's range-topping model, the Mulsanne having the sort of dignified assertiveness that characterises the Crewe firm's biggest saloons.

Revealing the car in California alongside one of Bentley's first saloons, Dr. Franz-Josef Paefgen, Chairman and Chief Executive of Bentley Motors, said: "The challenge we set our engineers was to create a new grand Bentley that would stand as the pinnacle of British luxury motoring, offering the world's most exclusive driving experience. They have responded to this challenge with real passion and the result is a luxury grand tourer that sets new standards in terms of comfort, effortless performance and hand-crafted refinement."

Like the Arnage it replaces, the Mulsanne takes its name from the track in Le Mans where Bentley can claim six wins in the famous 24-hour race. Due on sale in 2010 no details of price are yet available, but don't expect much, if any, change from £250,000.

Kyle Fortune