July22, 2019In the absence of new product, Bentley’s fickle, au courant
target consumers are presented with a proliferation of posh
options these days. “Bentley really shot up in volume and vis-
ibility with the first Continental GT back in 2003 by attacking
a market that didn’t otherwise exist,” says Karl Brauer, execu-
tive publisher of automotive research outlet Kelley Blue Book.
There weren’t that many $150,000-plus ultraluxury automo-
biles then. “Now that market is pretty well blanketed,” he says.
These troubles led to Bentley’s worst fiscal years since it
was acquired by the Volkswagen Group in 1998. Sales plum-
meted 16% from 2016 to 2018, to 9,559, despite a growing
ultraluxury market and the debut of the brand’s SUV, the
Bentayga. The company had a loss of €288 million ($325 mil-
lion) in 2018 on revenue of about $1.5 billion. Pet programs,
such as a two-seat sports car and an electric powertrain, were
scrapped or pushed far into the future. And Bentley had to
restructure, eliminating or retiring 10% of its workforce.
Cutbacks in manufacturing and employee costs were the
first step in Hallmark’s five-point recovery program. The
second is refocusing on the new Continental GT coupe and
convertible and the Flying Spur sedan, which will all have
gone on sale globally by early next year. The third is plan-
ning for the next round of stringent emissions tests, sched-
uled to go into effect in 2024, to avoid delays. The fourth is
adding a plug-in hybrid option to every vehicle in the lineup
by 2023 to decrease the carbon footprint and broaden sales.
The last is the creation of the first all-electric Bentley, though
its introduction has been delayed until 2025, long after
battery-powered cars will have rolled out from competitors
such as Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, and Aston Martin.
Concept cars are dreams disguised as statements, and
as such, the EXP 100 GT is a rolling symbol of how Bentley
might propel itself out of trouble. Interestingly enough, for
a brand that prides itself on delivering a certain kind of prof-
ligate British opulence, the coupe focuses on sustainabil-
ity. “Luxury is generally synonymous with excess, maybe
a certain level of disconnection to consequences,” Gregory
says. But in the minds “of the next generation of customers,
which then feeds into all of our customers, sustainability has
become a really important topic. And what we want to offer
is guilt-free luxury.”
This means exterior paint made from recycled rice husks,
faux leather seats made from winemaking byproducts, and
wood veneers carved from 5,000-year-old trees found in bogs.
It means playing with “luxury theater” in a car’s interior by
using glass that refracts natural light and technology that har-
vests and plays back natural sights, sounds, and smells. And
it means using next-generation, lighter, more energy-dense
batteries to give it a projected 435-mile range.
“Sustainability,” then, has a double meaning here: The
company hopes the concept’s priorities will propel the brand
successfully into its second century. But there are still hur-
dles. “I’m not convinced that tech or these other ideas will
cause a huge uptick in sales,” Blue Book’s Brauer says. Plus,
there’s the cars’ elite aura to consider. “Theoretically, the
whole point of a brand like a Bentley is to not see one every
five minutes when you’re driving around,” he adds.
Bentley says it can afford to make more cars and keep its
cool. “We will focus on putting the definitive grand tourer
into every product segment,” Hallmark says. “So we cover all
bases—ultraperformance, ultraluxury, and ultrarefinement
and relaxation. And that’s what makes a Bentley.” arofthe
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