They may make the best mile-eaters in the world, but Britain’s luxo-limo manufacturers, Rolls-Royce and Bentley, combined yesterday to save me a journey of at least four hours and 225 miles.
By coincidence, both companies chose yesterday — and locations in Central London — to reveal their results for 2013. Such meetings provide unmissable opportunities to meet the chief executives in their most expansive mood, which means you hear lots of fascinating stuff about achievements of the past and plans for the future.
The day started with a trip to the deeply tasteful Rosewood Hotel in High Holborn for breakfast with about 20 other hacks, followed by a speech-plus-Q&A at 9am sharp by Dr Wolfgang Schreiber, the CEO.
Bentley’s message is impressive (record sales; a further 50 per cent expansion planned following the 2016 launch of the much-ballyhooed SUV) and Schreiber was in urbane and amusing form, having relaxed into the job to the extent that — if the body language of his accompanying PR director was anything to go by — he might have been a shade too helpful with our questions.
One source of amusement was his answer to my enquiry whether Bentley would show another concept of its SUV before launch, given that they had learned plenty from their first, much-panned version shown in Geneva two years ago, and had since redesigned it. “The feedback was fantastic, and we did learn a lot,” agreed Schreiber with a grin, “but we learned enough.” The message was clear: the next time we see the Bentley soft-roader it’ll be in production.
It’s about three-quarters of a mile on foot from Holborn to Berkeley Square and Rolls-Royce's rival shindig: CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös was holding court for hacks and assorted televisual types in the dealership near the corner of Bruton Street.
The Rolls guys hadn’t known until the last minute about the prior Bentley event, and might have been pushed a bit onto the back foot had it not been for the bullish nature of their own message: Müller-Ötvös revealed record sales for the fourth year in a row, another round of hirings at Goodwood, a slightly more powerful limited-edition of the Ghost, plus fascinating and ongoing consideration (but absolutely no sign-off) on what a new Rolls SUV would be like.
Interestingly, having heard Bentley's revelations, Müller-Ötvös had nothing but praise for what Crewe was achieving, although he did make the point that while they were now into “mass market”, Rolls-Royce remained at the pinnacle of super-luxury, and its contract with its customers would always include the word “rarity”.
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Rolls Royce, Bentley SUV's
Having looked at the Rolls and Bentley photos of their potential SUV's the Bentley looks acceptable but the Rolls is bizarre in that it looks like a squashed rolls, honestly it looks gross.
I think these companies should forget what is already a crowded market (SUV) and concentrate on building fine motor cars in an exclusive market. Other companies have tried to compete in their market place and failed i.e. Maybach.
Rolls and Bentley have credibility and created a niche within their sector. If prospective owners wish to go SUVing they can always purchase a Range Rover or Mercedes G wagon and Spec them to the hilt. I think it demeans the Rolls Royce Bentley Marque to produce SUV's.
Bentley
Maybe if you are hauling teeny