British luxury car manufacturer Bentley (VWAGY) is betting big on hybrid vehicles and younger consumers.
Bentley, which had a strong but not record year in 2023, believes it can get back on track. New U.S. CEO Mike Rocco told Yahoo Finance that sales were expected to decline last year, but 2025 could be a strong year with an all-new Continental GT plug-in hybrid due to launch in late 2024.
“This is definitely the next step for Bentley,” Rocco told Yahoo Finance from the Quail, one of the main events during Monterey Car Week in Pebble Beach, Calif. “Moving to a V8 hybrid was just the logical progression.”
The move towards hybrids began with the Bentayga SUV and then the Flying Spur sedan; however, the Continental GT gets Bentley’s all-new V8 plug-in hybrid powertrain, offering up to 80 kilometres of electric range as well as the roar of a V8 and almost 1,000 Nm of torque. This will be the only powertrain when the Continental GT is launched.
“I think it now allows us to appeal to a different audience. We are now in the supercar space, but with the craftsmanship, the luxury aspects and of course the comfort of an everyday car,” in addition to the benefits of hybrid technology, he said.
“The beauty of the new car is that it has regeneration, so you don’t have to plug it in regularly,” Rocco said. “It regenerates (energy), which we’ve found in talking to our customers and prospects is a strong selling point for the vehicle.”
While customers accept hybrid and some electric features, supercar buyers worry about the disadvantages of pure electric vehicles.
“Hybrids are being accepted, but there is still a little hesitation about fully electric vehicles,” he said. Other sources at Monterey Car Week told Yahoo Finance that many luxury vehicle buyers are concerned about the residual value of electric supercars, which can cost as much as $2 million.
Bentley, which offers the limited-edition Batur for $1 million but is not in the hypercar sector, had planned to go fully electric by 2030 but has pushed that date back. Bentley and Rocco now expect to build hybrid models by 2030, with pure electric cars coming sometime after 2030 or even as late as 2035.
Bentley’s ambition to become younger
Bentley unveiled the aforementioned brand new Continental GT sports car for the first time in North America at the Monterey Car Week. The company wants to appeal to younger customers and offer more individual options.
“Overall, I would say we’re shifting from early 60s to early 50s, late 40s; the trend has definitely been in that direction over the last few years,” Rocco said of the average age of his buyers. “Since 2019, we’ve seen it move into a range where we’re more comfortable, an age where we’re more comfortable.”
While modern design and an updated model range are helpful, it turns out that younger buyers like to make the product their own, with customized treatments, materials, finishes and even one-off creations, such as a unique dashboard appearance.
“We believe the trend towards younger customers will continue with the new car and that is very important to us,” Rocco continued. “It’s just about the continuous brand building around Bentley and we do a lot with the new products, new styling kits, new exhaust kits, different colours that come out with each launch of the new products.”
With the launch of the new Continental GT, which has a suggested retail price of $300,000, the luxury brand is hoping for another record year of sales and increasing profits, provided its customers continue to order these high-margin options and customizations.
Pras Subramanian is a reporter at Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Þjórsárden and further Instagram.
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