- Production of the iconic W12 to finish in April 2024
- More than 100,000 units produced in Crewe
Bentley has announced that it will cease the production of its iconic W12 engine in April 2024. By the time the last of the W12 will roll out of the British marque’s Dream Factory in Crewe, more than one lakh units will have been handcrafted.
But the 12-cylinder engine will be going out with a bang in its most powerful avatar to date. Housed in the limited-run Bentley Batur, the 6.0-litre twin-turbo W12 will have an output of close to 750bhp and an earth-shattering 1000Nm. Only 18 units of it will be made, making this an instant future classic collectable.
The R&D of the last W12 is done and Bentley will employ all of its 30 skilled craftspeople to hand-assemble the engine at the Crewe factory. Once the W12 is off the shelves, the production facility will make way for V6 and V8 hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains.
Each W12 engine is hand-built over 6.5 hours by a team of craftspeople before undertaking a 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.
Taking a look at its history, the first-ever 6.0-litre, twin-turbocharged W12 was seen in 2003 after Volkswagen acquired the brand. This engine has powered some of the iconic cars like Bentley Continental GT, Continental Flying Spur, and Bentayga, apart from the Volkswagen Phaeton and the Touareg. This engine was also used in the 2006 Spyker C12 La Turbie and 2008 Spyker C12 Zagato.
Over the two decades, it saw an increase in power along with a reduction in emissions. The decision to pull the plug on the mammoth engine comes as part of Bentley’s Beyond100 strategy which will see the company’s entire model line fully electrified by the start of the next decade. When production of the W12 ceases next year, Bentley’s entire model line will be available with the option of a hybrid powertrain.
