Bentley to stop selling non-electric cars by 2026

Bentley Motors will stop making conventionally fuelled cars in the next six years, the luxury brand has announced.

By 2026 it will only offer electrified cars, which will either by plug-in hybrids or battery electrics.

This will change to just battery electric cars by 2030.

Bentley also aims to become an “an end-to-end carbon neutral” firm by that point.

Chief executive Adrian Hallmark said the Crewe-based company is “on a mission”.

Efforts to reduce carbon emissions are “not a race but we don’t want to be last”, he explained.

Summing up the significance of Bentley’s plan, he said: “A 100-year-old company that’s renowned for the best and most successful 12-cylinder in the world, will not be building engines in less than a decade.

“This is profound change for the industry and we want to lead that change. We’re not frightened by it, we’re inspired by it.”

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has indicated that a ban on sales of new petrol, diesel and hybrid cars and vans could be brought forward from 2040 in a bid to meet carbon reduction targets.

Mr Hallmark is lobbying the Government to ensure there is an “overlap” to allow hybrids to be sold for a period after petrol and diesel car sales are prohibited.

“I think we’re now getting through,” he said.

“I’m not being complacent when I say that. It’s been a good debate, a passionate debate, but I think they are listening to the arguments, and we trust that the right decisions will be made.”

Mr Hallmark said Bentley is “not out of the woods yet” in its response to the coronavirus pandemic, but it is aiming to break even for the year as a whole.

He added that the company was forced to cut 800 jobs due to the virus crisis, but redeployments, voluntary redundancies and reducing contractors mean just 10 people are at risk of compulsory redundancy.