00:02Bentley, one of the most recognized British motoring brands, released its first model in 1921.
00:09But now, over a hundred years later, they've moved into the all-electric luxury performance car market.
00:15It's called the Torkel, and it began making its debut in London on Wednesday night.
00:21Starting price around $230,000, it has a range of about 600 kilometers, and it can accelerate from zero to
00:31100 kilometers an hour in just 2.9 seconds.
00:38Juliet Mann's been speaking to Bentley's chairman and CEO, Frank-Stefan Walliser.
00:44Well, it's a very important strategic addition to our portfolio offer.
00:51First and foremost, it's a new Bentley.
00:54And yes, second, it's an electric car.
00:57But it was very important for us to underline everything Bentley and to generate additional business.
01:04It's not a replacement of a car.
01:06And the intention is, and that's the logic behind the business case, is to get new customers and also a
01:12younger audience to the Bentley brand that start the journey with Bentley just earlier.
01:18But Lamborghini scrapped its first electric car, saying that customers just didn't want it.
01:22So why are you confident that your customers will?
01:26Well, first, Lamborghini is not Bentley, and Bentley is not Lamborghini.
01:30Even if you have overlapping customer groups, Lamborghini is way more in the sporting area.
01:36Bentley is more versatile.
01:37We are offering an SUV.
01:39Yes, it's very capable.
01:40It has 888 PS, so it's also a sporty part of it.
01:45But it comes with all the Bentley-ness on it, the day-to-day usability.
01:49We will see a lot of cars being daily drivers.
01:53It's the entry level in the Bentley brand.
01:57And I know I'm talking Bentley prices, but it's maybe a more affordable Bentley.
02:04So there's a different business logic behind that.
02:07And the characteristics of the drivetrain fit very well to a Bentley because you have this wave of torque.
02:15You have to silence if you want, but we also worked a lot on a sophisticated sound landscape
02:21that gives you the feeling and the rhythm of our V8 engines.
02:26So there's a lot of technology packed in this to give what you call Bentley-ness, which sounds very exciting.
02:32But let's talk about where all of this is happening, because you've invested $470 million to build the torque entirely
02:40in Crewe in the north of England.
02:44What does that investment say about Britain as a place to build cars?
02:50Well, for us, it's very, very important.
02:52Our cars are built and will be built also in the future in the UK, in the north of England,
02:59in our traditional factory that just celebrated 80 years of manufacturing Bentleys in that place.
03:04And our product and our customers are asking for a British product.
03:10This is a very, very important part of the product, is that it's engineered, assembled, designed in the UK.
03:19And looking ahead into your crystal ball, Frank, what do you think that the next big shift will be for
03:27the luxury car industry?
03:30I think a very personal, what Bentley is working strategy-wise, authenticity is very important.
03:37Again, the relation with customers is important and really emphasizes where does the car come from, the hand-built thing.
03:45This will all continue.
03:46I think it will get even more important in the future to have a deep understanding where does the car
03:52come from, where does the product come from.
03:55What is the next big thing?
03:57Yes, AI will have a very big impact in our process, in the industry and also in the offer of
04:03the car.
04:04But besides that, I don't see a big shift.
04:07The transition to the electric car will keep the automotive industry busy for the next 50 years, so I have
04:13no worries on that.
