Bentley had a fantastic sales year in 2021 and with demand for new special editions remaining high, the Crewe-based British automaker is set to continue that success into 2022. But things will now be done a little differently. As of January 1st, Audi has full control of Bentley and will be directly involved in much of the decision-making that will define the Bentley brand going forward. Of course, there will yet be things that those in Crewe will retain autonomy over, but for the most part, the British must now take their lead from the Germans. So how will this affect Bentley going forward?

Well, all major decisions will need the approval of Audi and no major unilateral investment can be made without approval from Audi. Furthermore, even important intra-group deals need prior consent, meaning that Bentley cannot decide to collaborate with Lamborghini on a project without first getting the go-ahead from Ingolstadt. Audi will also have the power to make changes to management and can decide how production capacities are allocated. Thus, while Bentley CEO and chairman Adrian Hallmark will run the business from day to day, Audi's Markus Duesmann will make the final call on any big decisions for Bentley, but there's no reason to suspect that Bentley has any issue with this arrangement.

As for the vehicles themselves, there will be changes under the skin. Until 2020, Bentley worked closely with Porsche and used the latter's MSB platform to underpin its passenger cars, but from this year, Audi's PPE41/51 and SSP4/5 modular component sets will be used. This is good news for Bentley as it looks to make the switch to electrification since the automaker is not small enough to be exempt from Euro 7 emissions regulations that will soon come into effect and Audi has a wide range of products that will be suitable to influence the next generation of electrified Continentals, Flying Spurs, and Bentayga SUVs. Ultimately, the change is a small one on the surface but Audi's management of the brand will have far-reaching benefits in the future.