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The 200,000th Bentley Ever Built Is This Bentayga Hybrid

Registered in January 1919, Bentley is one of the most celebrated luxury marques out there. Founder W.O. Bentley exhibited a chassis with a dummy engine that year at the London Motor Show, and the first production cars were delivered in 1921. Ever since the first 3 Litre rolled off the line in Cricklewood, the British brand has built 200,000 cars.
 200,000th Bentley Ever Built 13 photos
Photo: Bentley
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The milestone model is - of course - a Bentayga sport utility vehicle because SUVs make up most of the company’s sales in this day and age. Be that as it may, it’s worth remembering that Bentley was elevated to new heights in 1998 when the Volkswagen Group bought the carmaker from Vickers plc.

“In 2003, the introduction of the Continental GT represented a transformative moment for the brand,” declared chief executive officer Adrian Hallmark. The grand tourer accounted for 80,000 sales of the 200,000 total, cementing Bentley’s status as a luxurious, sporty brand more than ever before.

“The pace of progress has accelerated significantly since 2003,” added head honcho Adrian Hallmark, “and we are now entering the next period of transformation as we pursue our Beyond100 strategy.” In other words, Bentley prepares to go electric just like the rest of the Volkswagen Group. So far, Audi and Volkswagen have both announced that they will not invest any more money in new engines, which is pretty saddening news.

Turning our attention back to Bentley, the landmark vehicle is equipped with a hybrid powerplant. Not as potent as the twin-turbo V8 or twin-turbo W12, the twin-turbo V6 and e-motor of the Bentayga Hybrid develop a total of 443 horsepower (450 PS) and 516 pound-feet (700 Nm) of torque. Total range is quoted at 536 miles (approximately 863 kilometers), with up to 31 miles (50 kilometers) of EV range at speeds of up to 84 mph (135 kph).

Going forward, Bentley will offer only plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles by 2026. The entire lineup will switch to battery-electric powertrains by 2030 when the automaker intends to be end-to-end carbon neutral.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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