The need for urgent climate action has intensified since our site was first certified as carbon neutral in 2019. Also, our 2024 materiality assessment showed that climate change remains a high priority topic for our stakeholders.  

We have responded to the need for this urgency by broadening our action on decarbonisation to align our sustainability efforts with the push for net zero. We are committed to taking the most credible route to support the 1.5° C pathway and this is an essential part of our Beyond100+ strategy of ‘leading in sustainability’. 

Fleet electrification is the single biggest action we are taking to reduce vehicle emissions, but tailpipe emissions are not the only emissions associated with vehicles. Under our LCA and DKI decarbonisation approach, we also consider the emissions from the materials and processes required to produce the vehicle.

We aim for all new cars we sell from 2035 to be BEV but there will still be Bentley ICE vehicles on the road. Given our ambitious decarbonisation goals, it is important that we continue our efforts to make all our vehicles, no matter their age, as sustainable as possible.

Transitioning from internal combustion technologies and eliminating emissions presents a range of challenges that requires us to maintain a powerful focus on renewable energy solutions.

We have made progress on sustainable fuels, with efforts to integrate second-generation biofuels and eFuels into our strategy. We are considering a mass balancing approach for renewable fuels, to ensure that equivalent renewable energy is added to the grid or supply chain.

Responsible supply chain is one of the initiatives underpinning the sustainability Field of Action in our Beyond100+ strategy. We need our supply chain to be transparent, traceable, and ethical, both for the vehicles we currently produce and the BEVs we intend to produce.

In 2024 we have worked to ensure our suppliers reflect our sustainability practices and priorities. This means that we can be confident about the extent to which our supplier choices reflect our decarbonisation goals. You can read more about our approach to sustainable products and resources in both Sustainable products and materials section.

We are committed to ensuring sustainability at the product level throughout our supply chain. Standards vary by part, but all have minimum requirements for sustainability of raw materials and CO₂ emissions. Extended collaboration between commodity leads and procurement teams has improved supply chain sustainability.

Our commitment to circularity requires us to consider resource scarcity too, and to make efforts to control and reduce our use of certain resources, in particular leather, metals, plastics, rare earth magnets, and rare wood veneers. Wherever possible, and where there is no negative impact on quality and performance, we continue to increase the use of circular (recycled and renewable) materials.

We aim to avoid undue stress on fragile resource systems and ensure the availability of the materials we use. Our strategic commitment to a circular economy will allow us to decarbonise in a socially responsible manner.

Presently, our highest priority for circularity is materials. We want to remain compliant with the End-of-Life Vehicles Regulation and are also assessing and implementing opportunities to use higher percentages of circular materials in our future electric cars.

Constant competition and headwinds in the automotive industry demand that sustainable innovation form a key part of our culture, product, and operational strategies. Innovation underpins both our effort to be leading in sustainability and our aim to improve efficiency year-on-year. It helps us to respond to changes in market conditions too, and to turn challenges into opportunities.

From virtual vehicle development to AI-driven quality control, we are harnessing cutting-edge technology to improve efficiency, reduce waste, and elevate our sustainability credentials. Our innovation is not only shaping the future of our products—it is revolutionising the way we design, manufacture, and deliver sustainable luxury.

Innovation for sustainability is a mindset, and we know that it is not easy. We continue to support our engineers to make the big cultural shift to virtual testing and have invested in training and integration to support their use of the driving simulator and AI technology.

We aim to communicate regularly with our stakeholders, both sharing information and seeking and listening to feedback. Our stakeholders’ ideas help us shape strategy, innovate processes and products, and improve operations, affecting all aspects of our effort to be leading in sustainability.

An essential part of our stakeholder dialogue is with our Sustainability Council. They play a key role in guiding us through the biggest transformation the automotive industry will have ever seen. The Council advises the Board on the decisions it makes to drive sustainability across every aspect of the business.

Additionally, we sit on and engage with several industry and local boards including the Northern Automotive Alliance, Crewe Town Board, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, the South Cheshire Chamber of Commerce, Walpole (the official body for British luxury) and the Confederation of British Industry.

Our governance structure and approach ensure that we meet our goal to be leading in sustainability, by integrating the consideration of sustainability at every stage of our work.

When making decisions, we are guided by our values and ethical principles, our integrity and compliance principles, and what is best for our stakeholders. This commitment goes beyond legal compliance to consider customer safety, innovation, supplier compliance, and social cohesion.

Our governance processes are managed through key committees including the monthly Compliance Committee. We collaborate with the Group via regular Compliance Officer meetings to strengthen our governance approach. This ensures we address issues collaboratively and get support from other parts of the Group if required.

To be leading in sustainability and responsible luxury, we must use the highest quality, most sustainable materials possible in our vehicles. We are committed to this goal and our people relentlessly innovate and research new materials to help us meet it.

Our focus is on sustainable design, sourcing, and manufacturing. Our goal requires that we understand our supply chain in detail and collaborate with responsible suppliers to integrate sustainable materials into our processes.

In the future, we will complete our Supplier Sustainability Roadmap to steer our internal approach to sustainable sourcing and aim to revise the Supplier Manifesto that sets out our values and principles for sustainable sourcing.

Vehicle safety ranked higher in our materiality assessment refresh in 2024, highlighting its increasing importance to our customers and other stakeholders.

Our Beyond100+ strategy prioritises proactive safety measures. Meeting our strategic goals requires a shift from reactive issue resolution to embedding safety throughout our design and development stages. This helps us create safer products by integrating safety protocols early in the process, thereby mitigating potential risks before they arise. We fulfil all requirements worldwide for the publication of recalls and safety campaigns.

As part of the full vehicle design and development process, from early simulation sub-system component testing to full vehicle crash testing, our validation ensures extremely high levels of occupant safety.

At Bentley, we are committed to transforming our manufacturing processes to support the transition to net zero, and we believe that luxury should be built responsibly. Our approach to sustainable operations is rooted in efficiency, innovation, and responsibility, ensuring that our Dream Factory in Crewe serves as a model for luxury automotive sustainability. 

By prioritising energy efficiency, water stewardship, responsible material sourcing, and biodiversity preservation, we are setting new benchmarks for sustainable manufacturing and reinforcing our role as a leader in the industry’s shift towards a more sustainable future. 

Our efforts ensure that our extraordinary vehicles continue to be crafted with care for both our customers and the planet.