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2027 Bentley Flying Spur First Look: The Luxury Liner Learns a New Trick

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Bentley’s flagship sedan gets a cleaner face, a more powerful hybrid heart, and an audiophile-grade soundtrack.

In an era where luxury sedans are quietly disappearing, Bentley is doubling down on the formula. The British automaker has unveiled the latest-generation Flying Spur, a comprehensive evolution of its four-door flagship that aims to blend handcrafted opulence with performance figures that wouldn’t look out of place on a supercar spec sheet.

The headline change is what lies beneath the sheetmetal. Every new Flying Spur now revolves around Bentley’s latest V-8 hybrid architecture, delivering the kind of power that makes the term “executive express” feel like a massive understatement. But while the powertrain grabs attention, the design team has been equally busy, giving the Flying Spur its most significant visual refresh in years.

A Cleaner, Sharper Bentley

At first glance, the new Flying Spur looks familiar. Look closer, however, and you’ll notice a dramatic shift in Bentley’s design language.

Most striking is the arrival of single front headlamps, a feature not seen on a Bentley sedan since 1962. The move aligns the Flying Spur with the recently introduced fourth-generation Continental GT and gives the sedan a cleaner, more modern face. The traditional grille has also been reworked and integrated into the front bumper, while the sculpted wing vent has been deleted in favor of smoother bodywork and discreet badging positioned behind the front wheels.

Around back, Bentley designers have simplified the rear styling with a redesigned decklid, slimmer taillamps, and a body-colored license plate surround. New 22-inch wheel designs complete the makeover, helping the big sedan look lower, wider, and more contemporary.

The Return of the S

For drivers who believe luxury and restraint are overrated, Bentley is bringing back the Flying Spur S.

Positioned as the more dynamic member of the lineup, the new S arrives with a High Performance Hybrid powertrain generating a substantial 680 horsepower and 686 lb-ft of torque (930 Nm). That’s nearly 20 percent more power than any previous Flying Spur S and a full 130 horsepower increase over its predecessor.

The numbers are appropriately absurd.

Bentley claims the Flying Spur S rockets from 0 to 60 mph in just 3.6 seconds before charging on to a top speed of 191 mph. Considering this is a sedan capable of transporting four adults in near-silent comfort while wrapped in handcrafted leather and polished wood, those figures remain almost comically impressive.

Bentley’s Most Driver-Focused Sedan Yet

The extra power is only part of the story.

For the first time, the Flying Spur S inherits Bentley’s Performance Active Chassis package previously reserved for Speed and Mulliner variants. The system combines active all-wheel drive, torque vectoring, twin-valve dampers, Bentley Dynamic Ride active anti-roll technology, and revised stability-control software designed to sharpen responses without compromising comfort.

A new electronic limited-slip differential also joins the party, marking its first appearance on a Flying Spur S. The result should be a sedan that feels significantly more agile than its considerable dimensions would suggest.

Visually, the S leaves little doubt about its intentions. Gloss-black matrix grilles, black exterior trim, dark-tinted LED lighting elements, black mirror caps, and dark-finished exhaust outlets replace the traditional brightwork, giving the sedan a more aggressive and purposeful stance.

Five Seats, Twelve Hours, Infinite Details

Inside, Bentley continues to treat craftsmanship as a competitive advantage.

Customers can now choose from five different seat designs, each requiring roughly 12 hours of hand-finishing by Bentley artisans. Whether specified with traditional fluting or contemporary quilted inserts, the seats represent the kind of painstaking attention to detail that remains increasingly rare in the automotive world.

The cabin also introduces a new exterior color called Dark Teal, a rich metallic blue infused with subtle green undertones that Bentley says was inspired by natural landscapes. It joins an already expansive paint catalog but stands out as one of the brand’s most sophisticated contemporary shades.

The Bentley for Audiophiles

Perhaps the most unexpected addition to the Flying Spur range is the new Virtuoso Collection.

Available in three themes—Soprano, Tenor, and Bass—the package takes inspiration from high-end musical craftsmanship and incorporates Champagne Gold detailing throughout both the exterior and interior. The precious-metal accents appear on everything from the winged Bentley badges to the exhaust finishers and even the vehicle key.

The centerpiece, however, is the extraordinary Naim for Mulliner audio system.

Originally developed for the ultra-exclusive Batur and carrying a £25,000 option price, the system now makes its way into a broader Bentley offering. Featuring 21 speakers and technology derived from Focal’s flagship Grand Utopia loudspeakers, the setup promises a listening experience closer to a private concert hall than a luxury sedan.

Bentley claims thousands of development hours went into perfecting the system, which employs advanced “M”-profile speaker cones engineered to maximize rigidity, reduce distortion, and deliver exceptional clarity across the frequency range.

Whether owners spend more time listening to a symphony, a podcast, or the rumble of the hybridized V-8 remains an open question.

Still the Benchmark?

The luxury sedan segment has never been more competitive, with electrification forcing manufacturers to rethink what performance and refinement mean. Bentley’s answer isn’t radical reinvention. Instead, it’s a carefully judged evolution.

The new Flying Spur looks cleaner, goes faster, handles harder, and sounds better—whether through its exhaust system or its 21-speaker audio setup. More importantly, it continues to occupy a unique position in the market: a four-door sedan capable of crossing continents in supreme comfort while accelerating with the urgency of a modern supercar.

Production begins in Crewe this September, with customer deliveries expected to start in the fourth quarter of 2026.

If the previous Flying Spur was already one of the world’s most complete luxury sedans, this latest version suggests Bentley wasn’t interested in standing still.

Source: Bentley

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Bentley Hits Pause on EV Dreams, Doubles Down on Hybrid Bentayga for 2028

There was a time—not long ago—when Bentley seemed ready to sprint headlong into an all-electric future. Five EVs by 2030, a battery-powered successor to the Bentayga, and a clean break from combustion. That plan, like so many ambitious electrification roadmaps, has now met reality. The new strategy? Slow down, recalibrate, and double down on plug-in hybrids.

At the center of that rethink sits the next-generation Bentley Bentayga, due in 2028. It won’t be the EV standard-bearer once envisioned. Instead, it will lead a new wave of Bentley plug-in hybrids—less a revolution, more a carefully judged evolution.

A Reality Check from Stuttgart

Bentley’s pivot isn’t happening in isolation. Parent group dynamics—and more specifically, delays at Porsche—have forced a rewrite. The much-anticipated SSP-based electric architecture, originally destined to underpin the Bentayga EV, has been pushed into the next decade at significant cost. That left Bentley with a choice: wait, or adapt.

Adapt it is.

Rather than sit on its hands, Bentley is shifting the next Bentayga onto the PPC platform—the same bones set to underpin the next Porsche Cayenne and future large Audi Q9. It’s a platform built for flexibility, capable of housing everything from straight-up combustion engines to next-gen plug-in hybrid systems.

The Bridge to Electric—Whether You Like It or Not

Bentley CEO Frank-Steffen Walliser isn’t shy about the reasoning. The demand for high-end EVs hasn’t quite matched the industry’s early optimism, and forcing customers into full electrification risks alienating a loyal base.

That base, crucially, loves the Bentayga. It’s been the brand’s best-seller since its 2015 debut, accounting for roughly half of all sales. In other words, you don’t mess with a winning formula—you refine it.

So the next Bentayga will lean heavily on a new-generation plug-in hybrid setup, likely centered around a 3.0-liter V6. Expect power outputs in the same ballpark as today’s 456 horsepower, but with a meaningful upgrade in electric-only range over the current car’s modest 30 miles. New battery tech and updated electronics should push it into genuinely usable EV territory—finally.

Not Quite Done with Gasoline

For all the electrified talk, Bentley isn’t quite ready to close the book on internal combustion. Select markets—particularly the U.S.—will continue to see pure gasoline variants, likely including V8-powered models. Limited-run specials could even sneak through in stricter regions, depending on legislation.

It’s a pragmatic approach, if not a romantic one. The days of unfiltered, twelve-cylinder excess may be numbered, but Bentley isn’t about to abandon its heritage overnight.

Design: Concept to Reality

Visually, the new Bentayga will take cues from the EXP 15 concept, signaling a subtle but meaningful shift in Bentley’s design language. Expect sharper surfacing, more pronounced lighting signatures, and a closer visual relationship to the upcoming “Urban SUV”—a smaller, electric-leaning model aimed squarely at rivals like the Cayenne Electric and Lotus Eletre.

Underneath, the new architecture brings more than just powertrain flexibility. Advanced air suspension with active ride control, the latest driver-assistance systems, and continued support for the Extended Wheelbase variant—all but guaranteed to remain a favorite among chauffeur-driven buyers—will ensure the Bentayga stays at the sharp end of the luxury SUV class.

The EV Isn’t Dead—Just Delayed

Bentley’s first EV, the so-called “Luxury Urban EV,” is still very much on track, with a reveal expected later this year and deliveries beginning in 2027. But if you’re waiting for a fully electric Bentayga equivalent, you’ll need patience—it won’t arrive until after 2030.

And when it does, it’ll likely pack serious firepower. Sharing PPE architecture with electric Porsche models, outputs north of 1000 horsepower aren’t off the table. Range figures approaching 400 miles? Also likely.

The Big Picture

What Bentley is doing here isn’t retreat—it’s recalibration. The brand is betting that plug-in hybrids, not full EVs, are the right answer for the next decade. It’s a hedge against uncertain demand, evolving legislation, and the simple reality that even ultra-luxury buyers aren’t all ready to go fully electric.

The next Bentayga, then, won’t be a revolution. But it might be something more important: exactly what the market is willing to buy.

Source: Autocar

News

Priyanka Chopra Jonas Joins Bentley

In an era when luxury automakers are just as likely to trade in storytelling as they are horsepower, Bentley Motors has found its latest narrator—and she doesn’t come from the paddock. She comes from the soundstage.

Enter Priyanka Chopra Jonas, the newly minted global brand ambassador whose résumé reads less like a casting sheet and more like a portfolio of modern influence: actor, producer, author, entrepreneur, and global advocate. For Bentley, this isn’t just another celebrity endorsement. It’s a calculated shift toward something softer, more human—and, arguably, more relevant.

The campaign, dropping this weekend with a longer-form film to follow, leans hard into authenticity. Shot in a documentary style at Sony Studios in Los Angeles, it pairs Chopra Jonas with Greg Williams—one half of Bentley’s recently appointed creative duo alongside Mai Ikuzawa. The result isn’t so much an ad as it is a conversation, one where the car plays a supporting role rather than the lead.

That car, by the way, is the Bentley Continental GT—a machine that, much like its new ambassador, trades on presence rather than noise. It’s there in the film, woven into the background, never demanding attention but always deserving it. Think less “hero shot,” more “co-star.”

Chopra Jonas speaks of craftsmanship the way Bentley engineers might talk about hand-stitched hides or milled aluminum: with reverence for the process. “There’s an intentionality behind every detail,” she says, aligning herself with a brand that has built its modern identity on precisely that idea. It’s a neat bit of symmetry—her world of filmmaking and Bentley’s world of coachbuilding both hinge on the same principle: nothing great happens by accident.

From Bentley’s perspective, the move makes sense. The brand has been steadily expanding its roster of ambassadors, but this feels like a pivot from traditional luxury signaling to cultural relevance. Marketing Director Ben Whattam calls it “a fresh energy,” though what he really means is that Bentley is betting on personality over polish.

And it might just work. Because while the Continental GT remains a masterclass in grand touring—equal parts speed, serenity, and stitched perfection—the real story here isn’t about the car. It’s about the people who give it meaning.

In a segment long dominated by specs and status, Bentley is trying something different: letting the narrative breathe.

Source: Bentley