Mid-Term

“The Bentley W. Company is a British producer of cars. It was founded by Walter Owen Bentley on the 18th of January 1919.” (http://www.thesupercars.org/category/bentley/) Walter Bentley and his brother bought a French auto company and renamed it Bentley with the headquarters in Mayfair. The company had a brief period in which they made airplane engines and then in 1920 the first Bentley car was made with the Flying B insignia and all. A year later in 1921 the car was delivered to its first customer. Bentley cars where entered in to racing right after its release and the company saw its first win in 1921 at Brooklands. The companies web-sight is stated in saying “If we had mission statements in those days, it could not have been expressed more eloquently than in the words of W.O. himself, “To build a good car, a fast car, the best in class” (http://www.bentleymotors.com/world_of_bentley/about_bentley/) In the early 1930’s Rolls-Royce bought the Bentley brand. After Rolls-Royce purchased Bentley they integrated some Rolls-Royce parts and the brands seemed to buck heads. Later on in 1998 Rolls-Royce and Bentley where bought by Volkswagen. Volkswagen has made it appoint to keep Rolls-Royce and Bentley separate and now has the two being made in two different locations unlike before. “Since its introduction at the 2003 Detroit Auto Show, the Bentley Continental lineup has expanded from one very fast sedan to seven even faster sedans and convertibles, including one flex-fuel vehicle.” (http://www.thesupercars.org
/category/bentley/)The company has expanded in some areas that may shock some people the company has released their own laptop of all things about two years ago. “the laptop features a hand-stitched leather lid cover and a curved metal case painted the same colors as the car. When closed, the laptop can be carried by its handle, which is also reminiscent of the door handle of the automobile. Otherwise, you're getting a pretty standard laptop, featuring Windows Vista 64-bit and a 160GB hard drive. It costs a whopping $20,000.” (http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9999907-1.html)The laptop is made by Ego and is a limited edition laptop for the company. Bentley also has other partnerships for what they call the Bentley collection, which features Bentley silk accessories, leather gloves, and cashmere stoles. All of this plays in to their consumers either the people that already have a Bentley and feel even closer to the brand or the ones that cannot afford the car but want to feel the opulence and quality of the handmade Bentley name.

The company’s main competitor is sadly Rolls-Royce which has always been a deep rooted rival. Even though in my opinion a Bentley is for a younger crowed that likes to drive and not to be driven and is a tad for flashy. Another competitor is Aston Martin, Maybach, and Maserati. Basically and six figure that you have ever pictured driving or being driven in to put it simply. The car is described as “The Bentley brand is to luxury cars what Everest is to mountains. Those with wallets deep enough to meet the six-figure price tags of the company's vehicles are treated to towering levels of refinement and prestige. Bentley coupes and sedans are mostly hand-assembled in Great Britain at the manufacturer's state-of-the-art Crewe factory” (http://www.edmunds.com/bentley/review.html) When buying a Bentley you are getting exactly what it is that you want in a vehicle custom paint colors and leathers are not surprising none the less. In latest news “The British company has prepared two special edition models designed especially for the Middle East market and they are the Bentley Continental Flying Spur Arabia and the Bentley Continental Flying Spur Speed Arabia. The car-maker decided to launch these two models as the Middle East market now represents 10 percent of Bentley sales world wide” (http://www.carsession.com/car-news/bentley/)