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Feb. 21 (UPI) -- Bentley is shifting its focus to a carbon-neutral future with the announcement that it will stop manufacturing 12-cylinder engines in April 2024. The luxury automaker made the announcement Tuesday, along with the reveal that it will unveil its most powerful W12 engine to date.
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Bentley said the final W12 engine will be handcrafted by its Mulliner team for Bentley's Batur. It will feature 750 PS of horsepower (ps is the metric equivalent of horsepower) and 1,000 newton-meters of torque with peak power at 5,500 rpm.
"When we first launched the W12 back in 2003, we knew we had a mighty engine that would propel both our cars and the brand forwards at speed. Twenty 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," CEO Adrian Hallmark said in a statement.
Getting a hand on one of the 750 ps Baturs will be difficult if not impossible. All have been sold already and there are few 659 ps versions remaining, according to Bentley.
While the manufacturer phases out production of the 12-cylinder engine, it plans to retain the skilled workers that designed and assembled it. Bentley said it will retrain all 30 of its craftspeople and assign them to its carbon-neutral factory in Crewe, Cheshire, England.
The facility where the W12 engines are made also will have new life. It will be used for production of hybrid engines, the company said.
More than 105,000 W12 engines have been delivered during its 20-year run.
"The 750 PS titan that Mulliner has created for the Batur marks the end of a development journey of which our engineering and manufacturing colleagues should be extremely proud," Hallmark said.
