Bentley Continental GT Speed

The Russian market is a relatively small one for Bentley alongside America, China and the UK. But it could soon become the largest in Europe for luxury cars, and gives Bentley huge potential, says Kevin Rose, the board member for sales,

marketing and aftersales.

The company expects to claim 25% of Russian luxury car sales, expected to total 1,000 sales this year, but is already looking further ahead.

“We are 43% up in Russia this year,” says Rose, “Generally, the luxury car market is static or falling everywhere, Russia is one of the few places where it is up.”

It might seem a surprise that the company chose the Moscow show to unveil the fastest-ever road-going Bentley, the 330km/h Continental GT Speed.

But Rose says the Speed is, “a good car for Moscow”, and added that Bentley has, “plenty of product news to come.”

Mazda 6

i-ELOOP is among the features of the new Mazda6 unveiled at the Moscow Show. The system is a brake energy regeneration system, using a capacitor to store electrical energy from the moment that the driver lifts off the accelerator pedal. The stored power is used to power electrical components, thereby reducing electrical drain and fuel consumption.

Two petrol engines were on show in Moscow with the car, both using Mazda’s Skyactiv technology. The 2.0-litre engine produces 150hp while the new 2.5-litre engine offer 192hp, delivering between 5.9l/100km and 6.4l/100km combined and CO2 emissions of between 139g/km and 151g/km in Russian specification.

Land Rover Freelander

Land Rover says the decision to facelift the Freelander just two years after subtle styling improvements accompanied the introduction of new diesel engines in 2010 is a measure to ‘keep the customers happy’ rather than a response to the overwhelming success of the Range Rover Evoque.

“We didn't feel there was any need to respond to the success of the Evoque. A lot of people who come into the showroom to look at the Evoque find it has some limitations for their lifestyle and move into a Freelander”, said chief programme engineer, Dave Mitchell.

“What the Evoque has done is allow us to use some of its technology, to add new features, such as the seven-inch colour touch-screen and say-what-you-see voice activation. But the two cars were developed as entirely separate programmes,” Mitchell added.

Nissan Almera

Nissan unveiled the new Almera at the Moscow Show, a car designed and built specifically for the Russian market at the company’s Togliatti plant. The four-door five-seat model features robust suspension, a 160mm ground clearance and 2mm thick steel plating to shield the underbody from the worst that Russian roads can offer. The boot provides 500 litres of load space. Nissan promises “D-segment space at a B-segment price.” Power will come from Nissan’s 1.6-litre 102hp petrol engine with either 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic gearbox.

Jaguar XF and XJ 4×4

The four-wheel-drive Jaguar XF and XJ unveiled at the Moscow show are not the company’s first foray into all-wheel drive – remember the ill-fated X-type of 1999 to 2007.

But whereas that car was created out of expediency under Ford ownership – to disguise that the X-type was a re-engineered Mondeo – the XF and XJ have been developed for solid marketing reasons.

Making all this happen in two cars that were never designed to accommodate all-wheel drive was not easy. The four-wheel drive system diverts all torque to the rear when the car is being driven normally on dry roads, but can send as much as 98% to the front in extreme slippery conditions.