News: Bentley switches to sustainable leather

• Bentley becomes the first automotive manufacturer to join the Leather Working Group
• All suppliers are aiming to be LWG certified by 2022
• Beyond100 strategy aims to lead to the most sustainable luxury car brand

Luxury brand leads the automotive industry into sustainable new territory

Bentley is the first automobile manufacturer to become a member of the Leather Working Group (LWG), with the aim of establishing responsible practices in the use of leather. For the membership, the OEM has disclosed its leather supply chain and is thus a fully audited member. By the beginning of 2022, all leather at Bentley will be sourced from suppliers and tanneries that have successfully completed the audit process. With the result that all suppliers hold the Gold Standard designation. According to LWG Programme Manager, Christina Trautmann, "a positive first step for the automotive industry to address the challenges within their supply chains."

What is the LWG leather standard?

The Leather Working Group is a non-profit organisation with over 1300 international members across the leather value chain. It shares a common vision across all sectors to make the leather industry sustainable. For this purpose, audit certification standards have been developed that enable an independent and transparent assessment. The audit primarily assesses the traceability of leather resources and, as part of this, audits the tanneries with regard to environmental aspects, production processes as well as social standards. Members include, among others LVMH, Adidas and TOMS.

Source & Copyright by Bentley

Leather as a long-lasting quality product

Leather is often defined as a quality feature. Many high-quality and innovative leather alternatives show that this is not a "must have". Manufacturers such as Tesla are opting for an entirely vegan leather interior. However, Bentley makes it clear that leather stands the test of time. After all, after more than 100 years, around 80 per cent of Bentley cars ever made are still on today's roads - and many of them with the original leather upholstery. With that, Mark Cooke, Head of Production Purchasing at Bentley, explains: "Our tailors and fitters are experts in their field, and the fact that so many of our historic models still exist with their original interiors shows the longevity of leather as a core material for us."

With the Beyond100 strategy to become the most sustainable luxury car brand

The collaboration with LWG marks another step for Bentley on its mission to become the most sustainable manufacturer for luxury cars. WWith its Beyond100 strategy, the company manifested its sustainability efforts in 2020 - as a vision and in concrete figures. Accordingly, the company plans to be carbon neutral with an all-electric vehicle fleet.

BRAND GUIDE