Luxury car-maker Bentley today made a £2.5 billion commitment to British manufacturing, confirming plans to build its next generation of fully electric vehicles in the UK.
The decision safeguards around 4000 jobs at the Volkswagen-owned marque’s plant in Crewe — to be renamed the “Bentley Dream Factory” — and comes as a fillip for the Government’s post-Brexit ‘levelling up’ agenda.
The last petrol-powered Bentley will roll off the production line in 2026 with the company switching over to an all-electric fleet — joining the £155,000+ Bentayga and Flying Spur hybrids — by the end of the decade.
Sales growth is strong thanks to its ultra-wealthy fanbase, with almost 15,000 models sold in 2021 — a 31% rise on the previous record, set one year earlier.
The move is seen as a critical step in the company’s Beyond100 strategy launched in 2020 to ensure Bentley is exclusively electric and end-to-end carbon neutral by 2030.
Adrian Hallmark, Bentley’s chairman and CEO, said:“Beyond100 is the boldest plan in Bentley’s illustrious history, and in the luxury segment.
“It’s an ambitious and credible roadmap to carbon neutrality of our total business system, including the shift to 100 per cent BEV in just eight years.
“Our aim is to become the benchmark not just for luxury cars or sustainable credentials but the entire scope of our operations.
“Securing production of our first Battery-Powered Electric Vehicle [BEV] in Crewe is a milestone moment for Bentley, and the UK, as we plan for a long-term sustainable future in Crewe.”
The first Bentley was built by founder Walter Owen Bentley at his garage in Cricklewood, north-west London, in 1919.
Its Crewe HQ is now home to all of its operations including design, R&D, engineering and production of the company’s three model lines, the Continental, Flying Spur and Bentayga.
