In recent times, the future of some of the Volkswagen Group's brands has been discussed a lot. After the rumors about the sale of Bugatti to Rimac and doubts about the future of the Molsheim brand, Lamborghini and Ducati, here is another rumor, this time associating Bentley and Audi.
According to Automotive News Europe, it appears that the Volkswagen Group is planning to hand over control of Bentley to Audi, with this publication stating that Herbert Diess, the CEO of the Volkswagen Group, welcomes this possibility. .
According to sources quoted by Automotive News Europe, Diess believes Bentley has the potential for a “fresh start” under Audi's baton.
According to the Germans at Automobilwoche (the “sister” publication of Automotive News Europe), Herbert Diess has said: “Bentley has not completely surpassed the “mountain” (…) the brand must finally reach its potential” .
When would this change take place?
Of course, none of this is official yet, however rumors suggest that Audi's takeover of Bentley could happen as early as next year.
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If you recall, Audi's role within the Volkswagen Group has been growing in recent times, with the German brand taking responsibility for leading the group's research and development efforts.
What might this control mean?
After in 2019 it put in place a turnaround plan that took it not only back to profits but to record sales, in 2020 Bentley saw the Covid-19 pandemic and the specter of Brexit force it to review the your predictions.
However, if the transfer of the British brand to Audi is confirmed, the Ingolstadt brand will not only control the development of Bentley models but also the technological and financial activities of the British brand from 2021 onwards.
In addition, Automobilwoche's Germans say that the next generation of the Bentley Continental GT and Flying Spur could use the Premium Platform Electric (PPE) platform that is being jointly developed by Audi and Porsche.
Sources: Automotive News Europe, Automobilwoche and Motor1.