VW's subsidiary recorded huge losses this year.

Bentley has been struggling with major internal issues for some time. The commissioning of new models did not work properly, the supply of engines by the sister company Audi also posed problems. A few weeks ago, the British manufacturer announced that the sale of diesel vehicles in Europe would be completely interrupted. Bentley's new boss, Adrian Hallmark, appointed in February, is now expected to advance the electrification of the lineup.

Volkswagen's UK subsidiary has been down for years. In 2017, the company had just made a profit of 55 million euros, or half of the result of the previous year. Sales and vehicle sales declined equally. Last year, sales had already decreased by nine percent, reaching 1.8 billion euros.

This development is expected to continue this year. Bentley is far from having a return of ten percent and more, which is common to luxury and high-end vehicle manufacturers.

The British manufacturer is now experiencing the bad decisions made in the past. "Bentley is totally surinvesti and choked by depreciation," says a company boss in Wolfsburg. 2018 is the year in which the company has to put its balance sheet in order.

For years, Wolfsburg had never really looked at what was happening at Bentley. Next year, we could then begin a reconstruction in due form. Bentley is also expected to return to profitability in 2019.

To be able to write decent figures, it is likely that Bentley will rely more on Volkswagen Group resources in the future. The VW plant in Zwickau already manufactures bodies for the British company. In addition, the Porsche factory in Leipzig works for the luxury vehicle manufacturer that Volkswagen had bought 20 years ago.

Luxury brands could be merged

There is also scope for closer cooperation with other VW luxury brands. Managing Director Herbert Diess announced when he took office in April the creation of brand groups. Bentley belongs with Porsche and Bugatti to the luxury and sports group, to which Lamborghini then added. The Italian sports car manufacturer is currently awarded to Audi.

The cooperation and a possible integration of the girl with losses Bentley could go even further. For example, the Group plans to merge the four luxury brands run by Porsche into its own company. As has been said in VW circles, no decision has yet been taken on this subject.

In the short term, Bentley must come out of the red mostly independently. Due to weak economic development, the British company is now considered a restructuring business. The plan for the change of model was poorly defined, the product line was not good enough and there was "no reasonable derivatives strategy".

An unregulated Brexit without agreement between the London government and the EU should further aggravate Bentley's problems. Bentley's boss, Hallmark, had already warned in October of the consequences of an unregulated Brexit. An exit from the EU without agreement could have a "rather damaging effect" on the company. In addition, there may be restrictions on investment opportunities.

If no agreement is reached with the EU by the end of the year, Bentley will have to consider other stocks. In addition, there could also be days lost in production. The luxury goods manufacturer has already started stocking components to prepare for delivery bottlenecks. This resulted in additional costs for Volkswagen's UK subsidiary.

An unregulated Brexit would hamper more intensive cooperation with the other Volkswagen Group brands. Parts supplied to Bentley, for example, by German VW and Porsche factories would probably have an extra inch. Bentley employs approximately 4,000 people in Crewe, south of Manchester.

Last week, VW's chief financial officer, Witter, presented a return plan for the various brands of Volkswagen Group cars until 2025. Bentley was gone.