bentley overturns the electric car and joins Mercedes-Benz and Ford. The British luxury car maker has officially withdrawn the electrification roadmap from its range, which it now calls Beyond 100+and postpones its goal of selling only electric cars to 2035, five years later than planned.
The automobile group announced this Thursday that it was already working on its first battery car which it will launch on the market in 2026 and that it will be a “luxury urban SUV” which will be followed by several launches of ‘A plug-in hybrid or fully electric model every year for the next decade.
In this way, the company will continue to sell plug-in hybrid vehicles until the middle of the next decade and not before 2030, as initially planned, given the low customer interest in this type of car and the slowdown in demand in the different European countries. markets in general.
Bentley and the electric car
CEO of Bentley Frank Steffen Walliserassured that its objectives could be modified depending on demand, since “certain regions” are electrifying “more slowly”.
“To be honest, there is not a lot of demand – for battery electric vehicles – from current Bentley customers,” admitted the CEO of the British firm.
Today, the group sells the models Continental GT Coupe, Convertible and Flying Spur with a plug-in hybrid propulsion system after announcing the cessation of production of the W12 engine at the British factory in Crewe after 20 years of uninterrupted manufacturing.
Global sales of Bentley vehicles fell 27% compared to the market 7,380 units during the first nine months, compared to more than 10,000 sales recorded during the same period of the previous year. Figures that allowed the brand to record an operating profit of 300 million euros during the first nine months, which translates into 40% less compared to the previous year, due to a volume lower sales.
Other brands
It is not the only brand to have abandoned its objectives with the electric car. Only a few months ago, Mercedes-Benz has confirmed that it will continue the production of combustion engines beyond 2030. An approach with which the German car manufacturer moves away from its ambitious electrification objectives scheduled for this decade in the face of slowing demand in the European market due to the reduction of incentives from different governments and the limited evolution of charging infrastructure on the roads.
At the same time, other brands of European origin, such as Volvo They continue to focus on the electrification of their fleet after ending the production of cars powered by combustion engines despite the slowdown in demand in the various markets of the Old Continent, which caused a significant drop in registrations of this type of motor vehicle. this year, as well as the arrival of new Chinese competitors.
