Three years ago many of the world’s automakers were scrambling to bring electric cars to market and proudly boasting that they’d sell only EVs by the end of the decade. But now it’s clear that EV sales aren’t growing as quickly as hoped, those plans are being rewritten and Bentley is the latest brand to announce delays to its electrification programs.
Bentley had previously promised to unveil its first electric car by 2025 as part of its Beyond 100 strategy to go EV-only by 2030, by which time it was supposed to have launched four more electric vehicles. But that first-ever zero-emissions Bentley now won’t be unveiled until 2026, with sales starting the following year, CEO Adrian Hallmark said to Auto News.
That delay to the first Bentley EV mirrors one being made by another British luxury brand, Aston Martin, which last month revealed it was pushing back the introduction of its maiden electric vehicle – also scheduled initially for 2025 – by a year. Both companies are using the delay to prioritize the development and sale of hybrid cars, which are growing in popularity.
But Bentley has an advantage here because it already sells petrol-electric versions of its Bentayga and Flying Spur, while Aston currently has no hybrids in its lineup. We’ve already seen hybrid versions of the Continental running around in prototype form, and they’re reported to get V8 hybrid powertrains that will also go into the Flying Spur sedan, which currently runs the same V6 hybrid as the Bentayga SUV. By 2026 every Bentley will be a PHEV.
Related: Is Bentley Testing A Flying Spur V8 Plug-In Hybrid?
“Because of the delay of the first BEV and because of all the changes around us, we are investing more in hybrids,” Hallmark told journalists. “We expected a drop-off of hybrids in 2028, 2029 and 2030 but now we expect that could actually grow and continue. It gives us more opportunity and it insures us against slower adoption of BEVs.”
The renewed focus on hybrids at Bentley means they’ll no longer be pensioned off by 2030 as previously planned, but will now live on into the early years of the new decade, effectively pushing back the brand’s electric switchover. But Bentley is still pushing forward with EV development. Hallmark told Autocar that the first model, to be built on the same VW Group PPE platform that underpins the Porsche Macan EV, won’t be a direct replacement for any of its current models.
Hallmark’s comments about Bentley’s tweaked strategy came as the company revealed it sold fewer cars and made less money last year. Output dropped to 13,560 from 2022’s record-breaking 15,174, revenue was down 13 percent to €2.94 billion ($3.19 bn) and operating profit fell 17 percent to €589 million ($639 m).