Who Should Buy the Bentley Brand?

"Wobbles the Mind" (wobblesthemind)
03/04/2016 at 21:28 • Filed to: Bentley

Speed Six Gurney Nutting Coupe, 1930

VW needs cash now and I don’t think calling J.G. Wentworth is going to cut it this time. We know they are keeping Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini, and Ducati no matter what. On the other end, I can’t imagine the sells of the Skoda, SEAT, MAN, and Scania brands combined would do more than keep creditors from calling after 6pm. So that leaves two brands that will definitely be on the table for sale: Bentley and Bugatti.

EXP 10 Speed 6 Concept, 2015

Now the sale of Bugatti can wait since there is no need to update the line up for the next decade. Just toss out 8 special edition Chirons every year and Bugatti is golden. That means the for sale sign is in Bentley’s yard.

Let me ask you this Oppo, “Who will buy the Bentley brand?”

I’m going to go with a wild but logical choice and say Hyundai Motor Group. In fact, I’d be surprised if the Korean giant wasn’t already in internal discussions to prepare a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! bid as soon as VW shows its hand. Bentley fits in perfectly with the Korean aesthetics of quiet but commanding design, sophistication without pretension, and high quality at an even higher value. Granted, current Bentley isn’t quite all those things, but under Hyundai, I could see that being the only real change. Well that and software that lasts longer than the door handles.

I think Bentley’s craftsmanship, sporting edge, prestige, and heritage (something Hyundai can’t gain any time soon no matter what they do) would be the missing pieces in Hyundai’s grand scheme. The halo brand would give the Genesis, Hyundai, and Kia brands a huge amount of credibility. All they have to do is not f*ck up Bentley!

Plus, they already have Luc Donckerwolke so maybe we can get designs and quality that is more along these lines:

Rather than the “Koreans can’t build a car better than my Cimarron!” group that would expect something more like this:

Since I’m a huge British, Korean, and Italian (Maserati specifically) vehicles apologist, this would be my dream come true!

Speaking of badges...

Actually I wonder if FCA would be willing to sell Maserati. Hmm, I may have another post coming...

DISCUSSION (14)

djmt1 > Wobbles the Mind
03/04/2016 at 21:42

Well I don’t see why they would sell Bentley since it’s one of their most profitable brands and I can’t see anyone buying them since they are so reliant on VW architecture. So with that I say they should buy themselves out if needs must. However if I must choose a third party then...

Hmm...

eh....

Ah!

McLaren. They’re a British manufacturer who actually understands how the business of selling cars works.

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > Wobbles the Mind
03/04/2016 at 21:45

if VW needs cash that badly, they should sell the less flashy brands (Ducati, SEAT, MAN)

Übel > Wobbles the Mind
03/04/2016 at 21:49

I think that has a much higher probability of bringing Bentley down than it does of bringing Hyundai up.

HammerheadFistpunch > Wobbles the Mind
03/04/2016 at 22:09

I mean to post this earlier but i decided i cant take genesis seriously anymore. I saw one being advertised at costco today alonge side a cx3 and you know what? The cx3 had a better looking paint job up close, they were both white. The genisis is a cheap car with lots of expensive things in it...maybe bently could teach them how to make expensive cars

Wobbles the Mind > Übel
03/04/2016 at 22:11

Has there ever been a time where someone buying a smaller brand brought that brand up initially? Keep making fun of the Huracan for being an R8. Make fun of Rolls for being a 7-series. If BMW bought out Alpina we would complain that they would ruin it the way they ruined M. Still complain about Mercedes ruining AMG. Would complain about Geely and Volvo if the XC90 wasn’t so awesome right out the gate. Complained about Ford ruining Aston and Jaguar...it’s always after the products are out for a while that we accept things are actually better.

Wobbles the Mind > HammerheadFistpunch
03/04/2016 at 22:18

You took Genesis seriously, ever? I kid of course. I’m actually extremely harsh on vehicles and think the Genesis (I’m assuming you mean the current Hyundai sedan) is just a premium, not at all luxury, sedan with the same build quality as a Buick Verano. That said, I think that most German sedans under $50k have a worse build quality than a base Verano as well. I’ve been in a lot of 2012+ cars (not in the prom night kind of way) and can say that everyone is full of shit. Cars are built cheaper now than they were in 2006, without a doubt.

Wobbles the Mind > djmt1
03/04/2016 at 22:24

You give McLaren too much credit. They have rushed out vehicle variants so quickly that they have actually killed their vehicle values. Right now it’s fine because everything is completely all new, but by 2019 this issue will become very apparent as McLaren’s brand perception falls to around Porsche levels instead of being the Ferrari alternative it wanted to be. I’m betting McLaren owners are already becoming vocal about this. There’s a big difference in moving a business forward and moving a brand forward.

Wobbles the Mind > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
03/04/2016 at 22:36

They won’t sell Ducati. I believe VW has four holding groups for the brands

VW, SEAT, Skoda

Audi, Lamborghini, Ducati

Porsche, Bentley, Bugatti

Scania and MAN

Honestly, I think Groups 1 and 4 are on the block. However, I think releasing Bentley would allow VW to keep everything else and have no real impact on operations and management. It would be the most efficient and effective move since Audi and Porsche can cover the Bentley gap with an A9, W12 Audis, and more exclusive Panamera variants and even a model above the Cayenne that is a four seater like the Bentayga. Mercedes does it, Audi can too. No one is touching Rolls Royce, the gap between Bentley/Mercedes-Maybach/Aston and Rolls Royce is just as large as Jeep and Land Rover Range Rover. Sure they do the same things, have great branding, but they are not a comparison shop.

djmt1 > Wobbles the Mind
03/04/2016 at 22:55

Nah. They deserve all the credit they get and more. Building Sport/Super cars is hard. Selling them is evening harder. Surviving without a corporate overlord (Ferrari & Porsche) or a Billionaire backer (Koenigsegg & Pagani) is substantially harder. Then take into account the amount of fierce competition in the segment makes surving that much harder still and yet McLaren is not only surviving it’s thriving.

Also when did they ever say they wanted to be a Ferrari alternative, heck given the launch of the Sport Series of cars it’s clear they want to fall more in line with Porsche than Ferrari. Or and this might just be a bit crazy but maybe just maybe they want to forge their own identity and be seen apart from the others.

Shmevans > Wobbles the Mind
03/04/2016 at 23:39

How many Opponauts are there? If each one of us sold that spare engine we swear we’re going to do something with someday, than maybe we could throw a bid together.

Wobbles the Mind > Shmevans
03/05/2016 at 00:04

Now that you mention it, why the heck haven’t we started our own car company?! I’m sure we have enough people from every walk of life to cover every possible position! Mazda seems to be letting anyone use their platforms too! I’m getting excited!!

Shmevans > Wobbles the Mind
03/05/2016 at 00:08

Hey I can even pull double duty! I worked at MB Canada in Marketing for 4 years, so there’s that. And my degree is in Aerospace Engineering. So, I’ll market the wind tunnels, I guess...

Shmevans > Wobbles the Mind
03/05/2016 at 00:10

Seriously though, the combined knowledge I’ve seen on Oppo could easily pull off a Local Motors type thing. I honestly have no doubts about that.

Wobbles the Mind > Shmevans
03/05/2016 at 00:16

This is Oppo, you’ll be utilizing that degree more than you can imagine. Knowing all of us, the cupholder design alone would make Porsche’s look like Croatian knockoff of the Mouse Trap board game.