Are Luxury Car Manufacturers Going Green?

Hybrid and electric technology is becoming more prevalent in the industry

We all enjoy driving or looking at some of the finest cars ever created, but what if we could continue to do this whilst keeping the environment clean? Prestige car brands are becoming more and more aware of the need to make their cars efficient and environmentally friendly, with this even being the theme of this year's Top Marques show in Monaco. Luxury & Services Rent has noticed a new trend which we feel might leave a huge imprint on the future of supercar manufacturing.

Firstly, in 2013, Ferrari launched the first ever Ferrari hybrid, the LaFerrari. This model has been a huge success story for the brand, with each model costing over €1 million. Even more impressive, is the fact that this hybrid car does not lose any of the trademark Ferrari speed; topping out at 350 kilometres per hour. As is so often the case, wherever Ferrari leads, many other supercar brands follow.

2014 has seen the continuation of the push for cleaner supercars, notably in the Grand Prix, where hybrid technology has been implemented in the championship. Yet it is not only the Formula 1 teams which have embraced a push towards hybrid and greener cars. Leading American electric sports car brand Tesla announced that it will allow other brands to use its patented technology in order to speed up electric car development.

Audi followed this announcement by saying, for its part, it will not ditch efforts to make an electric version of the extremely popular R8 model, as had previously been stated. The company added that the electric version will now be able to travel for up to 450 kilometres.

Bentley, which like Audi, is a luxury car manufacturer owned by Volkswagen, also broadcast in 2014 that future models will use hybrid technology and prove that, “hybrid technology can be applied to even its most luxurious cars.” The manufacturer had a stand at the Beijing Motor Show in April to showcase its new concept car and claims that with this new technology the car will be able to travel 40 kilometres as an electric car and reduce Carbon Dioxide emissions by up to 70 percent.

The future of luxury car manufacturing looks green which is fantastic news. The most positive part of all this is that it seems despite the push to cleaner hybrid and electric technology, supercar brands such as Ferrari, Bentley and Audi understand that it is crucial to keep the cars as powerful and beautiful as ever.