Bentley is taking a more cautious road into its electric future. Instead of forcing its best-known SUV into a full battery electric role too soon, the brand is now preparing the next Bentayga as a plug-in hybrid due in 2028, a move that better matches how its customers are actually buying luxury vehicles today.
That marks a meaningful shift from Bentley’s earlier plan. In November 2024, the company officially extended its Beyond100 strategy to Beyond100+, pushed its all-electric target from 2030 to 2035, and said plug-in hybrids would remain part of the lineup through 2035.
The result is not a retreat from electrification. It is a reset that gives Bentley more time to move its core products forward without asking buyers to make a jump they may not be ready to make yet.
For Bentayga, that reset could be especially important. The SUV remains Bentley’s bestseller and accounted for about half of the brand’s sales last year, which makes any change to its replacement far more than a routine product decision.
Why Bentley Changed Course
Bentley’s official strategy change was already clear by late 2024. The company said it was adapting to market, economic, and legislative realities while still keeping its long-term goal of becoming an all-electric brand from 2035.
Frank Steffen Walliser has been equally clear about the logic behind that move. He has argued that Bentley does not need to push customers into EVs before demand is truly there, a view that fits the slower pace of adoption in the ultra-luxury segment.
The wider Volkswagen Group backdrop also helps explain the timing. Porsche has delayed parts of its EV rollout and warned of a major financial hit tied to that rethink, showing how quickly premium carmakers have had to adjust once luxury EV demand proved less predictable than expected.
What The New Bentayga Will Be
According to recent Autocar reporting, the second-generation Bentayga is now due in 2028 and will lead a new wave of Bentley plug-in hybrids rather than becoming a direct battery-electric successor to today’s SUV.
That same report says the new model will move to the PPC architecture, which is designed for combustion and plug-in hybrid applications and can support six-cylinder and eight-cylinder gasoline engines as well as more advanced electrified systems.
The expected centerpiece is a plug-in hybrid setup built around a 3.0 liter V6. Output is said to stay in the neighborhood of today’s Bentayga Hybrid, while electric driving range should improve meaningfully over the current model’s 25-mile figure.
What Stays And What Changes
Bentley is not planning to erase combustion power overnight. Walliser has said pure gasoline models can still remain in selective cases depending on the market and on legislation, with the U.S. standing out as one of the places where that flexibility matters most.
That makes the new Bentayga less of a revolution and more of a carefully judged bridge. Bentley wants electric capability, stronger efficiency, and more modern technology, but it also wants to protect the kind of long-distance usability and familiar character that many of its buyers still expect.
Design will move forward too. Bentley’s EXP 15 concept, unveiled in 2025, was presented by the company as a vision of the future and as a source of cues for its first full electric production model, and recent reporting says the next Bentayga will also draw heavily from that design direction.
The Bigger Picture Around It
Bentley’s first EV is still coming. The company says it will reveal its first fully electric model in 2026, and recent reporting indicates first deliveries are still expected in early 2027, with the vehicle positioned as a luxury urban SUV rather than a direct electric Bentayga replacement.
That distinction matters because Bentley is trying to serve two audiences at once. The electric urban SUV is meant to bring in new customers, while Bentayga keeps its place as the brand’s core luxury SUV with a more gradual electrified transition.
The rest of the lineup is expected to follow the same broader logic. Autocar reports that the Continental GT, Continental GTC, and Flying Spur are also set to gain next-generation plug-in hybrid technology later in the decade, rather than rushing straight into full battery electric replacements.
Bentley’s new strategy may look like a step back if you only read the old headlines. In reality, it looks more like a recognition that luxury buyers, regulations, and product timing are not moving at exactly the same speed, and the next Bentayga now sits at the center of that more realistic plan.
This article originally appeared on Autorepublika.com and has been republished with permission by Guessing Headlights. AI-assisted translation was used, followed by human editing and review.