Bentley Motors has said it will continue to sell fossil fuel cars until 2035 – five years later than previously planned – as the luxury carmaker announced its first electric vehicle will be an SUV.
The British brand said it would reveal its electric “urban SUV” in 2026, in an update to its strategy on Thursday.
Bentley, owned by Volkswagen, is the latest carmaker to delay the shift from polluting petrol and diesel to electric-only propulsion, as growth in sales of electric cars has slowed in some key markets. Toyota, Volvo and Ford have also changed plans for electric models in response to a slower shift.
Luxury carmakers such as Bentley are insulated from some of the difficulties faced by mass-market producers whose customers have been affected by higher interest rates and inflation. Bentley cars start at about £170,000, and can cost up to £1.7m for one-off vehicles built to be billionaire’s showstoppers.
Yet even luxury companies believe some buyers are put off buying electric cars because of poor charging infrastructure, particularly outside Europe, China and the US.
Bentley had already revealed plans to continue to produce plug-in hybrid cars, which combine a petrol engine and a small battery that can be recharged by cable, after 2030. That decision was made by Bentley’s former boss Adrian Hallmark, who has since moved to lead another British brand, Aston Martin.
Frank-Steffen Walliser, who joined Bentley as chief executive in July, said the company was maintaining its aim of a decarbonised future. He said it needed to “adapt to today’s economic, market and legislative environment to initiate a major transformative phase for tomorrow”. The company is now aiming to offer only fully electric cars from 2035, he added.
The exact date of the last petrol car to roll off Bentley’s factory line is likely to depend on demand across the world.
The first electric model will be smaller than Bentley’s only SUV, the enormous Bentayga. That was launched in 2015 after decades of focus on saloons that can be driven by a chauffeur, or grand touring coupes.
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The electric SUV will be made in Crewe, where Bentley employs 4,000 people. Battery cars offer some distinct advantages to luxury carmakers: electric motors make very little noise compared with the contained explosions of internal combustion, and they offer smooth and rapid acceleration.
It is likely Bentley would – at first – be reliant on imported batteries because of relatively slow progress in building a factory in Britain.