Bentley Announces End To 12-Cylinder Engine Production

Bentley has announced that it will cease production of its 12-cylinder petrol engine in April 2024, by which time more than 100,000 examples of the iconic W12 will have been handcrafted in the company’s factory in Crewe, England. The decision comes as part of Bentley’s acceleration towards a sustainable future through its Beyond100 strategy which will see the company’s entire model line fully electrified by the start of the next decade

Bentley isn’t letting the W12 bow out without a dramatic send-off.  Development work has concluded recently on the most powerful version of the W12 ever created. The ultimate iteration of this mighty engine – destined for just 18 examples of the Bentley Batur to be handcrafted by Mulliner will develop 740 bhp and 1000 Nm of torque.  

Adrian Hallmark, Chairman and Chief Executive, Bentley said, “20 years and more than 100,000 W12s later, the time has come to retire this now-iconic powertrain as we take strides towards electrification – but not without giving it the best send-off possible, with the most powerful version of the engine ever created.”

Since the first introduction of the 6.0-litre, twin-turbocharged W12 in 2003, the engineering team in Crewe has continually improved the performance of the engine in terms of power, torque, emissions and refinement. Over the last 20 years, power has increased by 37 per cent and torque by 54 per cent, while emissions have been reduced by 25 per cent. Initially this was through evolution and optimisation of the control systems, improvements in the oil and cooling designs, turbocharging technology and more effective injection and combustion processes.

Each W12 engine is hand-built over 6.5 hours by a team of craftspeople before undertaking a highly sophisticated test regime of over an hour via three specialist diagnostic machines. Every week, one engine is run over an extended test cycle and then fully stripped for inspection.

The W12 engine facility will have delivered over 105000 engines before reaching its 20th. anniversary this year.