The all-new Bentley Continental GT has won Gold in two major categories of this year’s German Design Awards.
The luxury Grand Tourer was named winner by a jury of independent experts in the categories for best ‘Exterior Premium Brand’ and also best ‘Interior’.
Commenting on the exterior, German Design Council judge, Jürgen Lewandowski said: “The jury was impressed by the muscular exterior design of the latest Continental GT, which has retained a classic elegance that made its predecessor so popular, yet is more sculptured and sharply defined.”
Presenting the jury’s verdict on the interior design, Prof. Andrea Lipp-Allrutz added: “With the Continental GT they have managed to achieve a combination of tradition and the modern zeitgeist, not only in terms of technology but aesthetically too. Traditional craftsmanship, cutting-edge technology and aesthetics merge together to form an extraordinary design from this extraordinary brand.”
Designed and engineered in the UK, the new, third generation Continental GT is longer and lower than its predecessor, due in part to the positioning of the front wheels 135 mm further forward. This has allowed the bonnet to be extended and the nose to be lowered, while the key signature lines of the original model still dominate, with ‘power lines’ travelling from the diamond-style headlights to the rear haunches.
Inside the Continental GT’s handcrafted cabin there’s a mix of natural leathers and wood veneers, while the dashboard features a special rotating display that incorporates a 12.3″ touchscreen housed in a three-sided unit, which revolves the veneer to reveal the touchscreen as well as three analogue dials.
Additional details include pillow knurling that replaces mechanical knurling in some areas, particularly for the switches and controls.
“To receive two such prestigious design awards says everything about the quality that our highly skilled designers delivered when creating the new Continental GT. It is a design based on a bold new vision that is still unmistakably Bentley,” says Bentley’s design boss, Stefan Sielaff.
The German Design Awards is organised by the German Design Council and honours the world’s best automotive design achievements. The Council was founded in 1953 and is considered to be one of the world’s leading design bodies.
