The British luxury automaker plans to send its famous six-liter W12 engine to permanent retirement in April 2024, just as soon as the final Mulliner Batur rolls off the assembly line. Hybridized six- and eight-cylinder mills will step in to fill the gap.
The company believes the final implementation of its W12 to be its most powerful production car engine ever. For the Batur, the mill comes boosted to 750 PS (740 hp / 552 kW) and 1,000 Nm (738 lb-ft) of torque.
Bentley has been producing its W12 with various updates and modifications for two decades now. By the time it finally goes discontinued, the total production run will have exceeded 105,000 units. This is particularly impressive when you consider that every engine is pieced together by a team of specialists who need six and a half hours to build it by hand.
All Batur examples had been re-sold ahead of the public reveal, despite the fact that the supercar starts from nearly €2,000,000. The company points out, however, that the interested clients can still place a reservation for what will eventually be one of the world’s last W12-powrred Bentleys. Production slots are still open for the Bentayga, Continental GT and Flying Spur models.
The reasons for abandoning the engine are trivial: the company is looking for ways to minimize harmful emissions. By the beginning of the next decade, Bentley envisions itself as a fully electrified car brand.