Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2019-07-22)

CARS

Asit celebrates 100 yearsofmakingcars,theBritishautomakertries

toovercomethetraumaofthelastfew.ByBrettBerk

Bentley’s Future Perfect

“Birthdaysarea timeforreflection,butthey’realsoa time

forplanningforward,”saysJohnPaulGregory,headofexte-

riordesignforBentleyMotorsLtd.“Tofigureoutwhattype

ofperson—orbrand—youwanttobe.”

Tocelebrateitscentenary,onJuly 10theexclusiveBritish

brandunveileda conceptcar,theEXP 100 GT.Twofeetlon-

gerthana CadillacEscaladebutfeaturingonlytwodoors,

thebattery-poweredgrandtourerboastssustainablysourced

paintandwood.Andeverythingfromtheextensivebattery

rangetothehigh-techwindowglassismeanttoshowcase

thecompany’splanfortop-tiermotoringin2035.Thatvision

includesself-drivingtechnologythatcanstillprovidea vis-

ceralconnectiontotheroadandretainsthejoyofdriving.

Sadly,oflatethebrand’sownridehasbeenrathernotjoy-

ful.“The100-yearanniversarycomesata goodtime,because

the99th yearofthecompanywasprobablytheworstyear

inourhistory,”saysAdrianHallmark,whowasappointed

Bentley’schiefexecutiveofficerinFebruary 2018.

Hereferstoa seriesofseeminglyavoidabledisastersthat

beganwiththeearly 2017 unveilingofthethird-generation,

all-newContinental GT.Replacingthebrand’sbest-selling

line,the$200,000-pluscoupeandconvertibleweremeantto

rolloutgloballyforthe 2018 modelyear.Thatdidn’thappen.

Asproductiongotunderway,thebuildprocessforthe

carswasfoundtobefarmoretime-consumingandcostly

thanBentleyhadestimated.It tooksixmonths,aneternity

inthecarworld,tostreamlineit.Next,thecompanyreal-

izedit hadn’tproperlycontractedforthenumerousinde-

pendentevaluationsnecessarytocertifytheenginesfor

globalfuelandemissionsstandards.Thisrenderedthetwin

turbochargedpowerplantschurningwith8 or12 cylinders

unusableuntilthecompanymetalltherequirements.

ThelaunchoftheContinentalhadtobedelayedformore

thana yearinkeyregionssuchasChina,theU.S.,andthe

EuropeanUnion.“Weranfor50%oflastyear,with50%of

themodels,in50%ofthemarkets,”Hallmarksays.Thisis a

brandthatsellsjust10,000vehiclesa yearglobally—fewer

thanFordMotorCo.sellseverytwodaysintheU.S.“Iwould

saytheluxurysegment,morethananyothermarketplace,is

drivenbynewproduct,”hesays.Fallingbehindcanbecata-

strophic,especiallyinanechelonwherepurchasesareoften

basedonhavingsomethingotherpeopledon’t.

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PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: 731; CARS: COURTESY BENTLEY

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