Will continue to be offered here for the foreseeable future, though.
British luxury carmaker Bentley have decided that, on the back of waning sentiment and a continued push towards next-generation mobility, it will axe its diesel Bentayga SUV from the European continent come September. But with the continued availability of the W12, V8 petrol, and V6 plug-in hybrid powertrains, customers will continue to be spoilt for choice.
“Over recent months, the political legislative conditions have changed in Europe, and a significant shift in attitude towards diesel-powered cars has been widely documented. These factors, alongside the recent addition of the new Bentayga V8 and our strategic decision to focus on electrification in the future, have led us to taking the decision to offer only petrol Bentayga derivatives in European markets from September 2018.” — Statement, Bentley Motor Cars
The British firm is rather proud of their recent achievements with the Bentayga, particularly the plug-in hybrid powertrain that’s a first for the brand. With that in place, and two other pure-combustion options available, it’s understandable why Bentley would seek to kill off its oiler. Further, sentiment in the ultra-luxury segment has always favoured smoother, lighter, and more responsive petrol mills, even if this writer loves nothing more than a very generous dose of torque. As such, they’ve probably seen this culling coming for some time.
However, with the diesel dead, we should expect to see Bentley invest more resources in cementing its electrified powertrains to fill the gap. Bentley isn’t the only Volkswagen Group company to ditch its diesels though, with Porsche announcing last week that it was putting the ‘die’ in ‘diesel.’ We’re not sorry for the pun.
For the best deals on a new Bentley (we’re not kidding), check out our Showroom.
