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The final 12-cylinder Bentley engine rolls off the assembly line this month at the company headquarters in Crewe, England.
With about 120,000 units produced over 21 years (mostly for Bentley, though some for Audi and VW vehicles), it can claim to be the most successful 12-cylinder engine ever.
You could own one of just 18 Bentley Batur coupes to roll off the production line.
However, the British sports-luxury brand promises its next new model will be even faster. And exactly what is this model? The best speculation is that it will be a replacement for the Continental GT coupe, and will be a heavily facelifted version of the current car with a new plug-in hybrid, or PHEV, drivetrain.
Although he wouldn’t confirm any of those details, company spokesman Wayne Bruce tells us more will be revealed in June. “Let’s just say its successor will be a performance hybrid and, in terms of power, a step above the W12.”
If it is indeed a plug-in rather than a closed-loop hybrid – and the company already offers PHEV options in its sedans and SUVs – that would follow a trend among performance car makers. Mercedes and Ferrari have dropped engine size and cylinder counts on certain models yet upped the performance via the PHEV route.
The interior of the luxurious Bentley Batur coupe – you’ll have to be quick to grab one.
The limited edition Batur will be the last Bentley to receive the W12 (called that because its cylinders are arranged in four rows of three cylinders, rather than the more common V12 with two rows of six). The company is making just 18 Baturs, with the first being delivered to customers about now.
For this $4 million-plus coupe, the engine has been modified to produce 552 kW, making it the company’s most powerful “12” ever, though apparently still not as quick as the forthcoming “performance hybrid”.
The Batur features the luxury brand’s most powerful “12” ever.
Bruce says the first fully electric Bentley will arrive in 2026, and that it will be an entirely new car, not a reengineered version of a petrol model. He adds that the styling of the Batur “very much points towards the next generation of electric cars”.
Although Bentley’s global sales were slightly down in 2023, the company sold 229 cars in Australia, more than ever before. The accountants were no doubt equally pleased that more than a third of them went through the company’s Mulliner personalisation program, ensuring the average price was higher too.
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