Bentley CEO Admits EV Acceptance At “All-Time Low,” Unveils $515,000 Petrol Supersports Instead

Bentley CEO Frank-Steffen Walliser has publicly acknowledged that electric vehicle acceptance has hit an “all-time low” while announcing the luxury automaker’s next new model will be a petrol-powered Supersports performance car—not the EV the company promised just three years ago. The admission comes in a rare interview with The Sunday Times published November 8, marking one of the most direct acknowledgments yet from a major automaker that the forced EV transition has stalled without government subsidies propping up demand.

The strategic reversal represents a dramatic about-face from January 2022, when Bentley declared it was investing £2.5 billion ($3.2 billion USD) into its Crewe factory to transition the entire lineup to electric vehicles by 2030—what the company called “arguably the most important day in Bentley’s modern history.” Fast forward three years, and Walliser is preparing to unveil a limited-production, rear-wheel-drive Continental GT Supersports with a 600bhp non-hybrid V8 engine on November 14 in New York.

Luxury Buyers Reject Electric Vehicles

Walliser didn’t mince words about the current market reality. “At the moment we have, I would say, an all-time low in the acceptance of EVs,” he told The Sunday Times. When pressed on whether Bentley has abandoned its electric ambitions, Walliser insisted the transition would still happen—eventually. “It will come back. It will look different in two years. Do I know that? No. Do I hope it? Yes, because our business decisions depend on that.”

That hope-based business strategy comes as Bentley struggles with mounting financial pressure. The company reported a 2.9% decline in sales to €1.89 billion (£1.66 billion USD) for the first nine months of 2025, while operating profit collapsed 62% to just €115 million ($127 million USD). Deliveries dropped 2% during the same period, with China sales plummeting 30%—though China still represents 50% of the global luxury car segment.

Bentley now says its first electric vehicle—described as a “luxury urban SUV”—won’t arrive until 2027, with the company’s pledge to go fully electric pushed back from 2030 to sometime in “the mid-2030s.” The German-owned British brand, part of Volkswagen Group, cited difficult market conditions, model changeovers, and a trend in China toward downplaying conspicuous wealth as factors in its sales decline.

Sound Over Silence: Why EVs Don’t Work For Bentley

The philosophical justification for the EV retreat centers on brand identity. “Bentley was always about torque,” Walliser explained, noting that measure of engine strength and smooth acceleration. “That fits very well in the EV story. But now everyone has torque. The difference now is down to sound. Silence would not be Bentley.”

This admission—that electric vehicles fundamentally conflict with what makes a Bentley desirable—raises an obvious question: Why did the company commit billions to electrification in the first place? The answer appears to be regulatory pressure and subsidy incentives that have now evaporated, leaving automakers scrambling to preserve profitability.

Bentley faces strict quotas in the UK requiring 28% of carmaker sales to be electric this year. But luxury buyers have proven especially reluctant to embrace battery-powered vehicles at premium price points, particularly as Chinese competitors like BYD offer compelling electric options at half the cost.

£400,000 Petrol Performance Instead Of Electric Future

Rather than leading with electrification, Bentley will unveil the Continental GT Supersports on November 14—the first rear-wheel-drive Continental GT and what the company promises will be the “lightest, most driver-focused” version ever produced. The limited-production model will feature a 600bhp V8 engine, four large exhaust pipes instead of two, and aggressive styling aimed at recapturing what Walliser called “a little emotion” missing from the brand.

Believed to be priced around £400,000 ($515,000 USD) with production in the low hundreds, the Supersports resurrection marks only the fourth time Bentley has used the nameplate for a Continental GT. The move signals the company’s prioritization of profitable petrol performance cars over money-losing electric vehicle development.

Walliser, who took the CEO role in July 2024 after senior positions at Porsche including oversight of the 918 Spyder hypercar and 911/718 model lines, emphasized the company still has “an idea” for making electric sports cars work but isn’t disclosing details. The first electric Bentley will be that urban SUV in 2027, with the brand maintaining its revised 2030s electrification timeline—assuming market conditions improve.

Financial Reality Contradicts Electric Optimism

The numbers tell a story corporate messaging tries to obscure. Bentley employs 4,000 people in the UK and blames “difficult market conditions” for its financial struggles, but the timing coincides perfectly with the collapse of EV subsidies across major markets. The company’s parent, Volkswagen Group, posted a catastrophic €1.3 billion ($1.4 billion USD) operating loss in the third quarter of 2025, while sister brand Porsche suffered its first-ever quarterly loss of €967 million ($1.1 billion USD).

In the UK, Bentley faces pressure from government EV mandates while simultaneously watching luxury customers reject electric vehicles. In China, sales dropped 30% as wealthy buyers downplay conspicuous consumption amid economic uncertainty. In the United States, where cars face higher tariffs under the Trump administration, Bentley has promised to honor pre-tariff pricing on 2025 model cars.

The company insists the transition to electric vehicles will still happen, pointing to improving battery technology and growing charging infrastructure. Walliser expressed confidence:

“I strongly believe the transformation will happen. I’m not religious about having an electric car, but … an electric car is a very, very good car. It delivers you the torque. It’s simple from a mechanical point of view, it’s complicated from an electrical point of view — but the battery is getting better and better. The infrastructure is growing every day.”

Yet his own admission of “all-time low” EV acceptance contradicts that optimism, particularly as Bentley prioritizes a £400,000 petrol performance car over accelerating electric vehicle development.

EVXL’s Take

This isn’t Bentley’s first EV retreat—we covered the company’s initial timeline push back in November 2024 when it extended the full-electric deadline from 2030 to 2035. What’s changed since then is Walliser’s remarkable candor about market reality. Luxury automaker CEOs rarely admit “all-time low acceptance” of electric vehicles, preferring euphemisms about “right-sizing timelines” or “customer-focused flexibility.”

The timing tells you everything. Bentley’s financial collapse—62% profit decline, 30% China sales drop—coincides perfectly with the September 30, 2025 expiration of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit in the United States. That subsidy elimination triggered a 24% collapse in U.S. electric vehicle sales in October, validating what we’ve been documenting for months: the EV market was artificially inflated by government incentives, not genuine consumer demand at current price points.

We extensively covered the post-subsidy bloodbath, including GM laying off 3,300 EV workers and idling $2 billion battery plants, Honda scrapping large electric SUV plansy Nissan canceling EV sedan projects. The luxury segment has been particularly brutal: Porsche posted its first-ever quarterly loss of €967 million as it scrambled to unwind expensive EV strategies, while Mercedes-Benz EV sales plummeted 42% in Q3.

Bentley’s retreat validates our core thesis: if a luxury brand with premium pricing power, loyal ultra-wealthy customers, and century-old heritage can’t make electric vehicles work profitably, what does that tell us about mass-market EVs? When Walliser admits “silence would not be Bentley” and prioritizes a £400,000 petrol Supersports over EV development during this “all-time low” in acceptance, he’s acknowledging what legacy automakers won’t say publicly—the forced EV transition doesn’t work without massive subsidies.

The philosophical contradiction is striking. Walliser claims “everyone has torque” now, so Bentley needs sound to differentiate. But three years ago, the company was betting billions that silent electric luxury would define its future. What changed? Government subsidies ended, Chinese competitors like BYD proved they could build compelling EVs for half the price, and luxury buyers balked at premium prices for compromised vehicles.

Parent company Volkswagen’s €1.3 billion quarterly loss stemming from Porsche’s EV disaster and Trump tariffs reveals the broader industry crisis. European automakers face an impossible equation: Chinese efficiency, American protectionism, and consumer resistance to expensive EVs that don’t deliver clear advantages over combustion alternatives.

Bentley’s strategy now resembles the broader industry retreat we’ve documented. European car sales surged in September 2025 on a plug-in hybrid explosion, with automakers choosing profitable hybrids over money-losing pure EVs to meet regulatory targets. That’s not electrification—it’s regulatory gaming while maintaining combustion engine profitability.

The luxury urban SUV EV arriving in 2027 will be Bentley’s test case for whether premium electric vehicles can work post-subsidy. But by prioritizing a limited-run petrol Supersports first, Walliser is revealing his actual business priorities: profitable exclusivity over risky electrification. When your business decisions “depend on” hoping EV acceptance improves in two years, you’re not executing a strategy—you’re praying market conditions change.

What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below.