Bentley is slated to become the new Centre of Excellence for technology within the Volkswagen group. The production of the W12 engine will be permanently shifted from Germany to Crewe in England where Bentley is headquartered.
About 5,000 W12 engines are made by Bentley every year, and with this new development it will go up to 9,000 units by 2017-18 a hike of 80 per cent. This production figure includes engines for Bentley’s upcoming SUV slated for a 2016 launch.
The engine is currently used in Audi A8, Volkswagen Touareg, Phaeton, Bentley Continental Flying Spur and Continental GT. Notably, Dutch sports car company Spyker has also sourced the W12 motor for its cars.
The shift of production also means the British luxury car maker will export engines for the very first time ever since its inception.
Bentley chief Wolfgang Schreiber said: "This is an important step, not just for Bentley but also for the UK manufacturing sector."
"This W12 centre of excellence is recognition of the long standing engine manufacturing expertise we have that has resulted in performance improvements across the model ranges over recent years."
To ramp up the engine production Bentley will have to hire an extra 100 employees. It is rumoured half of that number has already been hired by the company.
It seems the company’s factory in Crewe will get busier as apart from building cars, they now have a mandate to produce engines for their group companies.
Source: Autocar UK
