Bentley to cut jobs ahead of long-delayed EV rollout

British luxury automaker Bentley Motors posted its seventh consecutive year of profitability connected Tuesday, but uncertain times mean the British luxury automaker is cutting jobs up of its belated electrical future.

Bentley said layoffs could deed 275 positions, oregon 10% of its non-factory employees. Bentley framed the cuts arsenic an ratio measurement tied to its adjacent signifier of growth, but it's a important determination for the tiny British institution that’s portion of the Volkswagen Group (VWAGY).

“We are making immoderate hard decisions to guarantee the semipermanent competitiveness of the business, including an organisational adjustment,” Bentley CEO Frank-Steffen Walliser said successful a statement.

Customer deliveries fell 5% during the year, driven mostly by continued marketplace weakness successful China. Despite this, Bentley inactive reported an operating nett of 216 cardinal euros ($247.8 million) connected gross of 2.6 cardinal euros ($2.98 billion) for 2025, with an operating instrumentality connected income (a measurement of nett margin) of 8.3%.

Bentley’s quality to compression much gross per conveyance done personalization and higher trims, similar its S variants, helped boost margins. Revenue fell 1%, but stronger pricing, exemplary mix, and sustained maturation successful bespoke Mulliner request helped offset little volumes.

Read more: How to find the champion luxury car insurance

Walliser flagged weakness successful China and the wide high-end user marketplace to Yahoo Finance in November, erstwhile helium described the luxury marketplace arsenic inactive mired successful “uncertainty” — peculiarly successful the US and Europe, but particularly successful China.

Bentley’s determination to trim headcount was labeled a mode to guarantee “long-term competitiveness" of the business, but it comes arsenic the institution begins the adjacent signifier of its EV rollout.

Under its Beyond100+ strategy, Bentley had committed to being exclusively electrical by 2030, a people that was pushed backmost to 2035, and past the institution pivoted, stating it would inactive merchantability plug-in hybrids alongside EVs beyond that timeframe.

Read more: Buying an electrical car? What to cognize astir EV security costs.

While the institution remains connected way to motorboat its archetypal EV adjacent year, Walliser noted it had “a batch of enactment to do” to person its customers to spell afloat EV.

Bentley’s Volkswagen Group stablemate Lamborghini is besides uncovering that its owners are shunning EVs successful the rarefied aerial of ultraluxury automobiles.

Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann confirmed successful February that the Italian marque was sidesplitting disconnected its Lanzador EV, initially slated for a 2028 merchandise but pushed backmost galore times.