RE: Bentley: made in Germany

[LuS1fer]

They need to cater for the market, wherever they get built. Good to see VW are keeping their phaeton the ground.

[renaultgeek]

Zwickau, big step from trabant to bentley.

I don't care if my clio is made in spain or france. Not in the same league I know, but if I was spending bentley money, I'd want german build quality.

[Frimley111R]

Matt UK said:

My understanding though is that the USA and China love the idea of British brands and all of the imagery and heritage around hand-built quality that comes with it.
What would they think if they found out? Would it burst the illusion bubble? Not sure, but if I were VW I'd proceed with caution so as not to kill the golden goose.

Plenty of people love the idea of German cars and yet look where many are built...

[aeropilot]

k-ink said:

I have not considered Bentley British for years. Just like the BMW MINI. I would be surprised if anyone felt differently, so it seems like a non story.

Conversely it can work the other way around.

I know an older chap who has been driving Japanese cars since the 1970's, won't buy anything else, was banging on a few months back about how he gave up on British cars back then as they were built so badly and wouldn't ever buy them again.
I said, you've changed your mind then....pointing at his recently bought, new Honda Jazz
He wouldn't believe me when I said "'cos that's made in Swindon"

[MyCC]

Personally i think this is damaging to the long term 'Britishness' of the Brand. Bentleys, Rolls-Royce are sold in Asia on the basis of an old world view of Britain, many believe they are still screwed together by men in flat caps etc or something out of Downton Abbey.

Having your Bentley put together in Germany does go against this and for those saying that for other cars this does not matter, this is true. But when your product is exported based on all of those traditional British values and at this high value end of the market, it does.

Regards,

MyCC.

[cianha]

renaultgeek said:

Zwickau, big step from trabant to bentley.

I don't care if my clio is made in spain or france. Not in the same league I know, but if I was spending bentley money, I'd want german build quality.

I was thinking the same thing! Is it the some old VEB site they use?

BRIC markets won't care either way.

[Elneld]

I for one would care. With all the positive things we hear about the UK factory and the traditional skills, passed down knowledge etc going into the cars I'd only want a uk built car.
I can't afford a new Bently so I'm sure Bently don't care what I think!!

[David87]

I would absolutely not want to buy a foreign-built Bentley, Jaguar, Land Rover or anything else that traditionally hails from the UK. It's not just British-made stuff either; I would want my Corvette to be made in the US and my Supra in Japan.

[simo1863]

Elneld said:

I for one would care. With all the positive things we hear about the UK factory and the traditional skills, passed down knowledge etc going into the cars I'd only want a uk built car.
I can't afford a new Bently so I'm sure Bently don't care what I think!!

Have you ever been to Crewe? I imagine the British built Bentleys are put together mostly by Eastern European nationals whilst the 'traditional' locals stay at home living off the state income provided by having a minimum of three children by the time they hit 18..... at least that's my impression of the place

[MyCC]

Personally i think this is damaging to the long term 'Britishness' of the Brand. Bentleys, Rolls-Royce are sold in Asia on the basis of an old world view of Britain, many believe they are still screwed together by men in flat caps etc or something out of Downton Abbey.

Having your Bentley put together in Germany does go against this and for those saying that for other cars this does not matter, this is true. But when your product is exported based on all of those traditional British values and at this high value end of the market, it does.

Regards,

MyCC.

[kith]

Similar things have happended with Lamborghini. Some early Gallardo's were assembled by Audi. Doesn't seem right to me at this end of the market, buyers are paying for heritage and provenance as well as a product.

[Ed.]

dapearson said:

Rich1973]ordan210 said:

MINI would not be the brand it is now and employ all these people in the UK with out BMW. British heritage with Germany engineering.

Might not be fully British any more but would not still around with out the Germans. So im not going to complain.


quote]

Mini would have been doing just fine without BMW. They couldnt pass up the opportunity after they had finished pillaging the Rover group to take the Mini brand, and leave the twitching corpse of what was left after claiming to have tried to help. it was all BS but seemingly not many people cared.

I'm ready to be flamed for this, but the BMWness of our MINI is one of my favourite bits. The switchgear, onboard computer and general feel of the car is very BMW. I like it.

Don't see any you are going to get flamed, 3 series didn't become the most common rep execs for nothing.

I think the distinction comes from whether they are designed and made locally or just assembled.

[TVR1]

Blimey, I really hope you lot don't look up the history of 'Our' Royal family.

You won't be able to cope!

[fatboy b]

Good to see some of the facts have been conveniently left out of the article. Nice one PH. All getting a tad Daily Mail isn't it?

[Macboy]

What the article mentions clearly is that this is the second time that Bentley has built Flying Spurs in Dresden. They were built for almost a year for export markets soon after launch - not just a "handful" either. Much wailing and gnashing of teeth on UK forums, no one else minded very much. All the cars were exported to markets like Russia and into Asia, they were as well or better built than the Crewe-built cars and all the important bits like interiors, wood, engines were all hand crafted in Crewe and shipped out. The body is made in Germany anyway, always has been, as is much of the other systems so it probably cost less to build as it had less transport miles for major elements. Seems logical to utilise the factory in Germany which is as impressive as the Mclaren plant and much more welcoming.

If this flexible approach works and is good for Bentley then crack on with it I say. At least VW has agreed to invest in Crewe for the SUV or this could easily have only been built in Bratislava. Wouldn't it be great to think that all Bentley's new VW derived models were successful enough to need extra capacity to support customer orders?

[jazzyjeff]

"The synergy is optimal..."

What a depressingly efficient comment

[jazzyjeff]

dapearson said:

Rich1973]ordan210 said:

MINI would not be the brand it is now and employ all these people in the UK with out BMW. British heritage with Germany engineering.

Might not be fully British any more but would not still around with out the Germans. So im not going to complain.


quote]

Mini would have been doing just fine without BMW. They couldnt pass up the opportunity after they had finished pillaging the Rover group to take the Mini brand, and leave the twitching corpse of what was left after claiming to have tried to help. it was all BS but seemingly not many people cared.

I'm ready to be flamed for this, but the BMWness of our MINI is one of my favourite bits. The switchgear, onboard computer and general feel of the car is very BMW. I like it.

So you like it because it is a BMW?

[Bodo]

Today, it doesn't matter where a car is built assembled, since production engineering is determining quality. VW invested more than £500m in Crewe. Besides car and engine assembly, leather, paint and woodwork add value in Crewe; albeit paint, windscreen and marriage are robot controlled.

Most components are not manufactured on site; usually the OEMs only produce bodies and engines themselves, and in case of Bentley, we've read that bodies come from Zwickau.

build hours required per car:
- average non-Bentley car: 20h
- Continental GT: 150h
- Arnage: 450h
- woodwork for one Bentley: 18h

Even though the effort to build a Bentley becomes lower, employees in Crewe have increased from 2500 (anno 2003) to 4000; despite separation of Rolls-Royce production to Goodwood.

Getting support from another factory to satisfy demands means that Crewe is at 100% of their production capacity.

[k-ink]

aeropilot said:

k-ink said:

I have not considered Bentley British for years. Just like the BMW MINI. I would be surprised if anyone felt differently, so it seems like a non story.

Conversely it can work the other way around.

I know an older chap who has been driving Japanese cars since the 1970's, won't buy anything else, was banging on a few months back about how he gave up on British cars back then as they were built so badly and wouldn't ever buy them again.
I said, you've changed your mind then....pointing at his recently bought, new Honda Jazz
He wouldn't believe me when I said "'cos that's made in Swindon"

Interesting point of view. But I take this stance...So there are a few spanner monkeys on a UK assembly line to get a tax break. The only benefit that has to our economy is a few less unskilled people on the dole. However all Japanese cars are conceived and designed in Japan. All the profits go to the head quarters in Japan (plus their shareholders of course) which is clearly a benefit to the Japanese economy. Just because the final assembly of parts is sometimes done in the UK (for particular models) that does not change the fact Japan are exporting their products to UK consumers. Therefore their cars are totally Japanese.

[Justayellowbadge]

MyCC said:

Personally i think this is damaging to the long term 'Britishness' of the Brand. Bentleys, Rolls-Royce are sold in Asia on the basis of an old world view of Britain, many believe they are still screwed together by men in flat caps etc or something out of Downton Abbey.

Having your Bentley put together in Germany does go against this and for those saying that for other cars this does not matter, this is true. But when your product is exported based on all of those traditional British values and at this high value end of the market, it does.

Regards,

MyCC.

The majority of British fashion beloved of foreign buyers never comes anywhere near the UK. Doesn't seem to damage it much.