LONDON (Reuters) - British luxury carmaker Bentley said on Thursday it will launch its first electric car in 2026 and said it will keep selling plug-in hybrids until 2035, formally abandoning a previous goal of going fully electric by 2030. 

The Volkswagen unit said the first electric Bentley will be a "luxury urban SUV," which will be followed by a new plug-in hybrid or fully-electric model every year over the next decade.

During a press event, CEO Frank-Steffen Walliser said the long-range electric SUV would be more compact than a conventional Bentley, which would make it more suitable for city driving.

Earlier this year Bentley said it might keep selling hybrids beyond 2030, but made that official on Thursday when it said it now aims to be a fully-electric brand by 2035.

But Walliser said that target could shift depending on demand as some global regions are electrifying more slowly.

"Some parts of the world may be even slower than 2035," he said. "We listen carefully to our customers... and what they want to buy."

Others including Volvo Cars have already dropped the ambitious target of going all electric by 2030. 

After a record year in 2022, Bentley posted an 11% drop in vehicle sales for 2023 as high-end consumers across the globe felt the pinch of rising costs and slowing economies.