Bentley is set to reveal a new model as part of this year’s Monterey Car Week in California on August 18.
This new Bentley model will be shown off with a new olive tan leather upholstery that’s claimed to be the company’s first “fully organic leather” option.
This leather is tanned using an “organic by-product” of the olive oil industry, derived from waste water extracted during the olive pressing procedure.
Bentley claims this technique requires less water than a conventional tanning process. It also says the resulting “organic leather” is “incredibly soft”.
This new olive tan leather upholstery option will soon be available across the entire Bentley product range.
At this stage it’s unclear what this new Bentley model could be at this stage. It could be a one-off concept, or could be a new production model.
One potential option is a mid-life update of the Bentley Continental GT coupe and GTC convertible. Camouflaged prototypes of both these vehicles have been spied for the last 12 months.
The current, third-generation Bentley Continental grand tourer dates back to 2017 and has been in production since 2018.
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Previously spied Continental GT PHEV prototype
The two-door coupe and convertible is currently available with a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine (404kW/770Nm), as well as a 6.0-litre twin-turbo W12 engine (485kW/900Nm).
Bentley has already confirmed it plans to add a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) powertrain to the Continental GT.
It’s unclear what type of internal-combustion engine the Bentley Continental GT PHEV will come with, but the existing Bentayga and Flying Spur Hybrid models have a twin-turbo V6.
At this stage Bentley plans to offer only PHEVs and electric vehicles (EVs) by 2026, as it gears up to go all-electric and carbon neutral by 2030.
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Flying Spur Hybrid -
Bentayga Hybrid
The British luxury carmaker has previously pledged to reveal its first EV in 2025 and bring it to market in 2026.
Overseas reports indicate the first EV will be an SUV, potentially a version of the next Bentayga or perhaps an all-new nameplate.
It could be built on the PPE platform which is planned to underpin the Porsche Macan EV and Audi Q6 e-tron SUVs, as well as the Audi A6 e-tron sedan.
