Bentley’s first diesel car, the V8 diesel-engined version of the Bentayga, will also be its last offered in Europe.
The Bentley Bentayga Diesel, first introduced in late 2016, has been pulled from sale in Europe, including the UK, although it remains available in thirteen markets global markets, including Australia, Russia and South Africa.
Bentley issued the following statement: “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 introduction of the new Bentayga V8 and our strategic decision to focus on electrification in the future, have led to us taking the decision to offer only petrol Bentayga derivatives in European markets from September 2018.”
Although the Bentayga going petrol-only will have a negligible impact on overall UK diesel registrations, it's part of a wider shunning of diesels by the British public, which has forced manufacturers to trim numerous models from their line-ups.
So far in 2019, diesel has made up less than a third of total new car registrations, whereas it made up almost 50% in 2015.
Bentley wouldn’t specify what proportion of Bentayga sales the diesel had been taking, but alongside three powertrains (W12, V8 and V6 plug-in hybrid), it was likely to be a niche offering, particularly in the petrol-favouring super-luxury segment.
Until the end of the second quarter of 2018, there were 815 W12, 518 diesel and 115 V8 Bentaygas registered on UK roads, although the W12 was introduced first, the diesel in late 2016 and the V8 petrol and V6 plug-in hybrid earlier this year.
Bentley has confirmed that UK customers will no longer be able to order a Bentayga Diesel, even as a one-off.
Read more:
Bentley Bentayga Diesel review
Bentley Bentayga Diesel road trip - sacrilege or common sense?
Exclusive: Bentley Bentayga Diesel prototype driven
Bentley Bentayga plug-in hybrid due in 2018 with 3.0-litre petrol V6
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There's a surprize
Wonder how much they've lost (RD, support etc) on each diesel sale?
Not a huge amount as the
Not a huge amount as the engine was developed by Audi for use in the SQ7 and in due course the A8 and VW Touareg. The older 4.2 diesel used by Audi VW was a fabulous engine and the newer 4.0 is even better.
A fair bit once all costs are totalled
It's not cheap to mod any engine for use in a different car especially if it sells in such tiny numbers as is the case here. Then there's all the hidden costs most people don't think about, tooling costs, training, documentation, on going support etc.
xxxx wrote:
But its not really a different car, the Bentley shares its platform with the A7, A8, Q7, Q8, the Urus, the Cayenne, the Panamera, the continental GT, the Flying Spur and the Touareg.
Quite right.
The frauds at VAG only really makes 3 cars, excluding Aventador and 911/Boxter/Cayman/Chiron.
They just wear very slightly different costumes, and hope people don't notice.
It's not that simple
That's like saying the new Polestar 1 shares a SPA platform with XC90 so they can put a battery and new shell on it. Engineering needs to be done and it costs money
I can't comprehend why anyone
I can't comprehend why anyone would pay this much for a car that looks so hideous!
I can't comprehend why anyone
I can't comprehend why anyone would pay this much for a car and fit it with a rattling diesel. It can't be to save on fuel, surely.
Andrew1 wrote:
1, They don't rattle.
2, Range.
Luap wrote:
Well it cant be for the pleasure of handling the diesel pump at the filling station. Or do you get a man who does that for you with your Bentley?
Luap wrote:
Agreed they dont rattle any more but i dont think range is too much of an issue in europe as compared to the other mentioned countries like Australia or Russia
Luap wrote:
Range? Good one! Why? The gentleman in the back doesn't have to take a pee from time to time?