It seems to be time to take stock at Bentley. In an interview with Car and Driver magazine, the CEO of the car manufacturer Frank-Steffen Walliser expressed the lack of customer interest in electric cars even though the brand had announced its electric only program from 2030 two years ago. .
“The introduction of infrastructure-based technology is generally overrated”
Would Bentley change course? More than two years ago, the motorist unveiled its green projects, the Beyond100 and #GotoZero programs, notably characterized by the electrification and hybridization of all of its ranges with the aim of “to be end-to-end carbon neutral by 2030” as indicated by Adrian Hallmark, former CEO of Bentley Motors and now head of Aston Martin. Thanks to a massive investment, the manufacturer launched its first electric car into production and planned to offer five electrified vehicles from 2025.
Today, the company’s plans appear to have been called into question. Frank-Steffen Walliser, former Porsche figurehead for nearly three decades and current CEO of Bentley, shared his his thoughts on this roadmap during an interview for the specialist magazine Car and Driver.
Bentley would like to be much more cautious towards this fully electric future advocated before the global health pandemic. “The electric car is an infrastructure-based technology. And the introduction of an infrastructure-based technology is generally overestimated, for one reason or another, in terms of speed, while the depth of use is generally underestimated” explained Frank-Steffen Walliser. The development of electrical activities would therefore be much slower and more complex than initially announced.
The customers would not be there
In addition to this aspect, it is also the consumer market itself that the CEO questioned. According to him, high-end car customers would not be so inclined to buy and drive an electric model.
“What we’re seeing in the luxury market right now is that people are rejecting electric cars. They’re only considering luxury cars that have a combustion engine. We can’t offer two cars, one electric and the other gasoline, in the same segment It does not work only in terms of investment and return on investment so we have to find something else. he told the magazine.
And “no decision on what comes next” has not yet been taken, the hybrid sector could be the solution to meet customer needs. Frank-Steffen Walliser still keeps the electrification plan by 2030, put in place before his arrival, firmly in mind. The nuance is that the CEO is speaking today “d’ambition”leaving the possibility of pushing back this deadline and continuing to produce thermal engines.
A first fully electric Bentley should see the light of day in 2026, with market entry in 2027. It remains to be seen how the manufacturer will actually make the switch to electric.
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