The Bentley Mulsanne will go out of production this spring and the company has now explained why they’re killing their Rolls-Royce Phantom competitor.
In an interview with Top Gear, Bentley CEO Adrian Hallmark said the Mulsanne’s fate was sealed by slowing sales. As he explained, “The big sedan segment has been the foundation of Bentley for more than 100 years, but the volume has regressed – even though we sell more than the Phantom.”
So how bad have things gotten? Hallmark said the company only sold “500-ish” Mulsannes last year, despite the fact that the “number of high-net-worth individuals in the world has tripled” since the days of the Arnage.
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Speaking of the Arnage, the company used to sell around 1,200 units annually. Given Mulsanne sales are less than half of that, it appears Bentley decided the volumes weren’t enough to justify continued production.
The slow sales also mean a Mulsanne successor has been ruled out. As Hallmark noted, the ultra luxury large sedan segment is in “critical decline” and Bentley wouldn’t be able to make a profit on a new model after accounting for expenses.
Of course, Bentley hasn’t given up on sedans as the Flying Spur was redesigned last year. While it not as regal as the Mulsanne, it’s far more popular as Hallmark said the Flying Spur outsells the Mulsanne six to one. He also said the new model is “more refined than anything we have ever built.”
Like mainstream sedans, the Mulsanne appears to be the victim of the crossover craze. Nearly half of Bentley’s sales now come from the Bentayga and a number of high-end crossovers have been introduced in the past few years including the Rolls-Royce Cullinan and Lamborghini Urus.
