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Introduction:-

Bentley Motors Limited is an English company registered in UK, they are into designing,

developing and manufacturing luxurious cars under brand name Bentley. Bentley Motors

Limited was established on 18th January 1919 by Mr. W. O. Bentley in Cricklewood, North

London. Historically this brand has changed couple of hands in 1931 Rolls Royce motors

bought Bentley from its makers and manufactured it till 1980s but when they became bankrupt

they sold it to Vickers in 1980. After 18 years in 1998, Vickers sold the brand to Volkswagen

group. Currently its part of giant Volkswagen AG group and its headquarters is based out of

Crewe, England. Bentleys are renowned to be handcrafted and their iconic designs. They also

have other distinguishable characteristics like superlative comfort, refined and exhilarating

driving experience and its ultimate performance record. Their design philosophies have won

them prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans award 6 times.

Some of the iconic Bentley models are Bentley Speed 6, Bentley-4½ Litre, Bentley

Continental, Bentley-Arnage and Bentley Turbo-R. As of 2016, Bentley produces only 4

models and its variants Continental Flying Spur, Bentayga, Continental GT, and Mulsanne.

Most Bentleys are still assembled at their original Crewe factory in London, but some variants

of Continental & Flying Spur are made at a second factory in Germany.

For many, possessing a Bentley is not merely about reaching from position A to B but it’s

about “arriving” there with flair and elegance in accord with a modern marvel of innovative

technology & classical hand workmanship at the apex of English extravagance. Bentley is

revolves among ideologies and the perception of “Britishness” in its design and image

philosophy. Bentley has flourished in global luxury car market with this differentiating its

position. Every car made by Bentley is completed by their team of expert artists in leather work,

metal work and wood work. The meticulousness of the present-day meets the passion of their

heritage to deliver the apex of luxury and a car that is uniquely created for their lovers.

Brand Portfolio

Flying Spur

• The sharp, sophisticated, Uncompromising Power, Muscular yet elegant

Bentayga

• Suv class, amix of luxury and performance, urban enthusiasts , explorer.

Mulsanne

• The flagship car, connected to root, ultra luxurious, lineage, aristocratic, the best and the visionaries

Continental Flying Spur

• Young achievers, luxury, daring, fast paced, aspirational and extrover

Continental GT

• Adventurous, challenge seeking, takes the road less travelled, determined and seasoned

Exp 10 Speed 6 Concept

• Future in progress

Eye to detail

“Both relaxing and exhilarating, a Bentley represents an intensely personal journey. For the

driver, it means entering a world of luxurious high-performance. For the brand, it represents

the skills, passion and pride of their people. Their craftsmanship is evident throughout, right

down to the initials carefully etched into the upholstery inside every car. An individual

hallmark of absolute quality.” (Bentley Motors - About Us, n.d.)

Body Every car is hand-crafted from the scratch in Crewe, and from there its luxurious voyage begins

to White workshop. It take around 400 hours to complete one car. 570 kg of steel and

aluminium is melted and welded by the 83 employees under eye of the masters in metal work.

A devoted team polishes the joints by hand till it is completely undetectable. Once painted it

seems like made up from one solid piece of metal.

Paint Colours are chosen according to personal order out of 120 Bentley's drawn-out palette. Each

colour reflects the nature of the holder. Each car is corrosion proofed and then hand painted for

an even coat throughout. Finally it’s sanded, polished and buffed with softest lamb’s wool for

about 12hours to get its signature mirror finish.

Wood Bentleys are known for indulgent wood work with base of walnut, cherry or oak of 10 varieties

of veneers. After choosing veneer it is mirror matched, sanded and cured for 72 hours and

polished last time before fitting it.

Leather Close to 3000 bull hides are sourced each week at leather workshop. Hides come from Northern

Europe, and each hide is checked and marked by experts. It takes around 150 hours of work to

craft all leather interior by hand. The process ends with etching of their initials inside the

upholstery

Engine At the heart of every Bentley super car is that one W12 engine, which is also handcrafted. Once

completed every engine goes through regressive testing and eventually signed off by the

specialist.

Bentleys Balance sheet

Worldwide Bentleys are sold via various dealership networks. Bentley has a market share of

25 % in super luxury segment i.e. cars above €150,000 thus leading as a luxury car maker in

the world. One can also say one out of four super luxury cars sold is a Bentley.

Bentleys operating profit for the year 2014 was €170 million from the total sales of 11 thousand

vehicles across the globe. It earned a revenue of €1746 million. Exports contributed for 86 %

of Bentley's total revenue stream in 2014. Bentley invests heavily in the automotive R&D

sector is currently third largest investor in the UK.

Bentleys believe in responsibilities and so has donated £500,000 to local and national charities

over the last 10 years.

Traditionally Bentley Motors are on high demand in the US, the UK and Europe. Asia is a fast

rising market, with China becoming the largest individual market. The potential is huge.

Figure 1 Sales market of Bentley, Wikipedia

Industry Outlook

According to Bain &Co. annual luxury report out of current luxury industries top three

performers are luxury cars, luxury hotels and fine arts. Taking a closer look at global auto

industry.

The global luxury car market was anticipated for a downturn following global meltdown of

2008 but it seemed relatively unharmed by the economic crisis rather they have been posting

growth figures which were driven by the some of the developing markets around the globe.

The top three German player brands Audi, BMW and Mercedes accounted for approx-80%

portion of the worldwide luxury car market. BMW is the undisputed over-all frontrunner in the

segment of luxury cars second comes Mercedes Benz and third Audi.

After 6 years of slowdown now there is some hope for European luxury car market as we saw

the segment expanding by 2% in the year 2014. After Europe, China now is major market for

the auto industry of the world, parting the USA to third spot.

Be it passenger car segment or luxury car segment, China has become the focus of marketers

in the auto industry. It is anticipated, luxury car segment of China, will be growing at CAGR

of 12% for the period 2014-2020 while the regular passenger car segment will see a growth of

around 8%.

The next in line focus market for luxury cars companies is expected to be the USA.

Both the markets USA & china has contribute the maximum to the sales figure of the top 3

European luxury car makers. The luxury car marketplace can see a price war among premium

luxury players who will be proposing promotional offers and other added benefits like service

and maintenance. While super luxury car makers can charge for their exclusivity.

Entry barriers to the industry

Competition – MEDIUM

The luxury car industry has medium amount of competition since there only about 15 major

luxury brands in the industry and each one has limited sources and mostly fight with difference

in positioning.

Life Cycle Stage – Mature

The industry being in existence for about 100 years now they are in more of mature stage. Most

luxury brands now own a heritage and legacy to follow on.

Capital Intensity –High

Luxury Cars require most advance technology and finest and rarest of resources on making.

Adding to this is the cost of very skilled craftsman and the whole factory setup. All the above

factors make this industry capital intensive.

Technology Change – High

Luxury cars come with complex engines and other advance technologies to control the same.

This makes this industry very technology dependent.

Regulation & Policy – Medium

Luxury cars caters to top 1% of the global population making it very niche giving governments

across to levy heavy taxes. Apart from taxes industry has to deal with trade tariffs and policies

for import and export of the finished goods

Market Study - USA Americans come second on the global level when it comes to spending on luxurious goods.

But for Bentley America was the largest market in 2014, with about 3000 cars delivered to

customers followed by china with 2,500 cars delivered. UK came in third.

Focusing on US market the overall auto sector saw a weakened growth after economic crisis

of 2008 but its demand for luxury cars is improving following improvements in

macroeconomics. Segmentation of auto sector shows, sports and luxury car industry together

comprises 17 % of the American auto industry.

5%

12%

41%43%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

Sports Cars Luxury Cars Compact andSubcompact Cars

Midsize and Full-SizeSedans

Auto Segments USA-2015

The auto manufactures in US earned $107 billion as revenue in the year 2014 showing a growth

of about 5.4% compared to 2013. Here exports accounted for $57.3 billion. And profit

accounted to $4.5 billion showing a growth of 2.5% over previous year. The base price of

standard &luxury vehicles continue to rise over the years giving higher profit margins. Luxury

automobile makers employ several pricing policies to get the maximum profit from the buyers

The Industry is highly fragmented because of independently held dealerships. Much of the

business takes shape at these dealers. Luxury car dealers sell both new and second hand cars,

in addition they also provide routine maintenance followed by repair and warranty services for

the customer. For luxury car buyers’ price comes secondary to customer service, hence dealers

take much emphasis on staff training programs & single point service centres, for a better

experience.

Market is also split because of small and large companies. Large corporations can offer more

variants of vehicle and are well stocked in terms on inventory. Whereas smaller companies can

offer their clients unique boutique experience and better personalised service

US car industry can be segmented on basis of price range or type of car like sedan, SUV, sport

luxury, super luxury:

17.6

17.1

16.1

9.4

8.8

8.7

6.1

4.9

2.9

2.7

2.4

0.8

0.7

0.2

1.6

0. 2. 4. 6. 8. 10. 12. 14. 16. 18. 20.

BMW (BMW)

Mercedes-Benz* (Daimler)

Lexus (Toyota)

Audi (VW)

Cadillac (GM)

Acura (Honda)

Infiniti (Nissan)

Lincoln (Ford)

Volvo (Volvo)

Land Rover (Tata)

Porsche (VW)

Jaguar (Tata)

Maserati (Fiat)

Bentley (VW)

Other**

Luxury vehicles: United States premium vehicle market share 2014

Leading Luxury Car Brands - Competition

Industry is becoming dominated by Japanese and German brands

• German-claimed, makes premium autos under brand MINI, BMW and Rolls-Royce names

• BMW has 17 worldwide offices with outer subsidiary’s in developing countries (India,

Thailand)

• 2014 unit sold = 339,738; 9.8% yearly change (50% income from Europe, half from US and

China)

• Subsidiary of Volkswagen-AG, makes first-class autos vehicles

• Entering little, powerful engine industry to obtain Ducati and dispatching diesel enigne

innovations

• 2014, total cars sold 182,011; 15% year on year growth (75% income came from Europe,

half of cars sold to USA, China)

• Subsidiary of Japan-based Toyota, produces utility-vehicles, traveller car and sports car

• Differentiates itself from contenders with being ahead of time and appropriation of

innovation, quality and unwavering quality

• 2014, cars sold 311389 units; 13% yearly growth

• German organization, symbol of status, achievement and great taste; renowned by pop

culture

• First movers in industry of luxury automobiles in mid-1900's; separates with assortment,

extravagance highlights and safety measures

• 2014, cars sold 356136 units; 6.5% yearly growth

• Launched in 80's under Japans organization Honda with 2 models

• Distinguished with low proprietorship costs however attempted to grow product offerings

and needs specialty market

• 2014, cars sold 167843 units; 1.5% yearly growth

Luxury Consumption Pattern

Luxury goods buyer look various desirable characteristics in their products. Same is true for

super cars. Currently there is no manufacturer of an `ideal luxury car'. But people associate

different characteristics with the car depending upon their country of origin. European owners

give a premium amount on qualities like durability and performance in a car. Japanese luxury

owners give importance to 3 characteristics, performance, quality and value. American luxury

owners go for comfort primarily and then they seek performance and quality.

Globally about $1.1 trillion was spent on luxury goods in the year 2014. Tracking the money

spending habits of the super-rich $437.8 billion is spent on luxury cars. Rest they splurge on

personal goods, hotels, food, private jets, furniture, yachts and cruises.

Reaching the Consumers using Marketing Strategies

Brand Image in public Drawing brand equity pyramid, we get Bentley resonates with elegance and power. And people

perceive it as Classy, Fast and of high quality. A Bentley invokes feeling of royalty and prestige

as it is associated as British ultra-luxury car brand.

Strategies Bentley does not use any of mass media like TV,OOH or radio to promote themselves, rather

they do lot of events, sponsorships, associations, in movie promotions. To reach out to their

customers they use traditional medium like magazines ads and new media digital media. They

keep their social dialogue with brand lovers via Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Bentley wants to create a complete sense of luxury for their consumers so they diversified into

executive furniture and luxury homes. They launched their trial collection in 2013and now

collaborated with Luxury Living Group, an Italy based furniture maker, to extend their design

philosophy.

Bentley also offers limited edition co-branded products under licensing format.

Entinger and Bentley Luxury travel products in leather in colours form Bentleys 120

extended palette, handmade using Bentleys hide.

Estede and Bentley Top line of sunglasses and designer frames containing the famous

B-emblem of Bentley and presented in a leather case

Zai and Bentley Bentley Styling studio and Zai designed innovative skiing products

those are handmade in Switzerland

Bentley Room London’s Mosimann’s is designed with an inimitably British blend

of style and tradition with a dash of Bentley decor and detailing.

Regis Hotel The Bentley Suite at St. Regis Hotel in New York is exclusively

designed to provide their guests with suite full of Style, luxury&

craftsmanship linked with Bentley

Sponsorships In its developed markets of the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe, Bentley,

through its dealerships, frequently welcomes clients to join in national golf competitions that

held in cross-country manner; the champ is delegated with the Bentley "Continental Cup".

These occasions unite golfers from various countries with enthusiasm for golf and Bentley

invigorate and fortify its picture of extravagance and selectiveness.

In its recently discovered markets in the rising economies, Bentley builds awareness of its

brand through motor-shows,-displays, -openings of fabulous showrooms, and marking of

restrictive dealerships to highlight the craftsmanship, quality and-extravagance of a Bentley

auto and the legitimacy of the Bentley-name. Every one of these occasions occur in the most

financially created and stylish metropolitan ranges, for example, Sao Paulo in Brazil, Shanghai,

Shenzhen and Beijing in China, and Mumbai in India.

New Media

Bentley-Motors, has made an application that makes a customized auto design, taking into

account the client's interests, way of life and identity sort. The Bentley Inspirator utilizes

feeling emotions programming that makes an independently planned car. It has been made by

VML London, which utilized emotions metric calculations made by utilizing information from

3.4 million faces in more than 75 nations.

The product tracks the client's enthusiastic responses as they watch a film that’s located inside

the application. The video demonstrates collection of “lifestyle-themed visual stimuli“ , for

example, a surfer riding a wave, a group at a music gig and a ballet artist in front of an audience.

The application records the client's outward emotions in real time and tailors the story of the

film. It additionally makes up a virtual Bentley utilizing the information about the person.

References

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Bentley Motors - About Us. (n.d.). Retrieved from Bentley Motors: http://www.bentleymotors.com

(2012). Bentley Motors: Art. London: Direct Marketing Association - UK: DMA Awards.

Cain, T. (2015, January ). USA Auto Sales Brand Rankings - 2014 Year End . Retrieved from Good Car Bad

Car: http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2015/01/usa-auto-sales-brand-sales-results-2014-year-

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Degun, G. (2015). Bentley app reads emotions to create personalised car designs.

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Walker, R. (2014). Luxury Car Makers Shift Up and Down the Gears in China.

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