200,000th Bentley destined or China

By Simon Hastelow on 26 March 2021

Bentley Motors has celebrated the 200,000th car built in the company’s 100-year-plus history. The Bentayga Hybrid, destined for a Chinese customer, met the oldest surviving Bentley, EXP 2, and a number of long serving colleagues, as it rolled off the production line at the home of Bentley in Crewe this week.

From left to right: Andy Hobbs (Director of Production), Joshua Jones (Manufacturing Colleague on Chassis Assembly, Bentayga), Peter Bosch (Member of the Board for Manufacturing), Steve Ward (Whole Vehicle Analysis Engineer), Mark Eden (Manufacturing Colleague on CP6, Bentayga), Joe Welsh (Head of Bentayga Assembly)

155,582 vehicles have been built at Crewe since 2003 – the year that the Continental GT was launched. Today, the company is building 85 cars per day, the same figure as it used to build in a month just twenty years ago.

From 1919 to 2002 the company built 44,418 cars – 38,933 of them in Crewe. Among them was the Bentley Blower, the R-Type Continental, Mulsanne, Arnage and Azure. 84% of all cars built for the UK market are still on the road today.

“This production of the 200,000th car is just the latest landmark on the extraordinary journey that Bentley has been travelling since its foundation in 1919. In 2003 the introduction of the Continental GT represented a transformative moment for the brand, and this Bentley alone, has represented 80,000 sales of our total 200,000, and created both a new segment, and a contemporary image foundation for the Bentley business.
“The pace of progress has accelerated significantly since 2003 and we are now entering the next period of transformation as we pursue our Beyond100 strategy, with the aim of positioning Bentley as the global leader in sustainable luxury mobility.”
Bentley’s Chairman and Chief Executive, Adrian Hallmark

To witness the landmark moment, the Bentayga Hybrid and EXP 2, were joined by Bentley’s longest serving colleagues, including Steve Ward, who joined in 1977, and followed in his father’s footsteps, his own Bentley career beginning 42 years earlier.

In his role as Whole Vehicle Analysis Engineer, Steve has had an active involvement with every Bentley model since 1980 and has tested them throughout the world, witnessing first-hand the transformation in modern-day Bentley cars.

Bentley will move to full electrification – PHEV or BEV only – by 2026, then switch the entire model range to battery electric vehicles by 2030. The industry-leading Beyond100 Strategy will transform every aspect of the business as Bentley accelerates into its second century of luxury car production.