the term paper gives an outlook on luxury car industry with consumption pattern of consumers also it contains specific details of Bentley and their communication efforts

1. -

2. Introduction:-
Bentley Motors Limited is an English company registered in UK, they are into designing,
developing and manufacturing luxurious cars under brand name Bentley. Bentley Motors
Limited was established on 18th
January 1919 by Mr. W. O. Bentley in Cricklewood, North
London. Historically this brand has changed couple of hands in 1931 Rolls Royce motors
bought Bentley from its makers and manufactured it till 1980s but when they became bankrupt
they sold it to Vickers in 1980. After 18 years in 1998, Vickers sold the brand to Volkswagen
group. Currently its part of giant Volkswagen AG group and its headquarters is based out of
Crewe, England. Bentleys are renowned to be handcrafted and their iconic designs. They also
have other distinguishable characteristics like superlative comfort, refined and exhilarating
driving experience and its ultimate performance record. Their design philosophies have won
them prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans award 6 times.
Some of the iconic Bentley models are Bentley Speed 6, Bentley-4½ Litre, Bentley
Continental, Bentley-Arnage and Bentley Turbo-R. As of 2016, Bentley produces only 4
models and its variants Continental Flying Spur, Bentayga, Continental GT, and Mulsanne.
Most Bentleys are still assembled at their original Crewe factory in London, but some variants
of Continental & Flying Spur are made at a second factory in Germany.
For many, possessing a Bentley is not merely about reaching from position A to B but it’s
about “arriving” there with flair and elegance in accord with a modern marvel of innovative
technology & classical hand workmanship at the apex of English extravagance. Bentley is
revolves among ideologies and the perception of “Britishness” in its design and image
philosophy. Bentley has flourished in global luxury car market with this differentiating its
position. Every car made by Bentley is completed by their team of expert artists in leather work,
metal work and wood work. The meticulousness of the present-day meets the passion of their
heritage to deliver the apex of luxury and a car that is uniquely created for their lovers.

3. Brand Portfolio
Flying Spur
• The sharp,
sophisticated,
Uncompromising
Power, Muscular
yet elegant
Bentayga
• Suv class, amix of
luxury and
performance,
urban enthusiasts ,
explorer.
Mulsanne
• The flagship car,
connected to root,
ultra luxurious,
lineage,
aristocratic, the
best and the
visionaries
Continental
Flying Spur
• Young achievers,
luxury, daring, fast
paced, aspirational
and extrover
Continental GT
• Adventurous,
challenge seeking,
takes the road less
travelled,
determined and
seasoned
Exp 10 Speed 6
Concept
• Future in progress

4. Eye to detail
“Both relaxing and exhilarating, a Bentley represents an intensely personal journey. For the
driver, it means entering a world of luxurious high-performance. For the brand, it represents
the skills, passion and pride of their people. Their craftsmanship is evident throughout, right
down to the initials carefully etched into the upholstery inside every car. An individual
hallmark of absolute quality.” (Bentley Motors - About Us, n.d.)
Body
Every car is hand-crafted from the scratch in Crewe, and from there its luxurious voyage begins
to White workshop. It take around 400 hours to complete one car. 570 kg of steel and
aluminium is melted and welded by the 83 employees under eye of the masters in metal work.
A devoted team polishes the joints by hand till it is completely undetectable. Once painted it
seems like made up from one solid piece of metal.
Paint
Colours are chosen according to personal order out of 120 Bentley's drawn-out palette. Each
colour reflects the nature of the holder. Each car is corrosion proofed and then hand painted for
an even coat throughout. Finally it’s sanded, polished and buffed with softest lamb’s wool for
about 12hours to get its signature mirror finish.
Wood
Bentleys are known for indulgent wood work with base of walnut, cherry or oak of 10 varieties
of veneers. After choosing veneer it is mirror matched, sanded and cured for 72 hours and
polished last time before fitting it.
Leather
Close to 3000 bull hides are sourced each week at leather workshop. Hides come from Northern
Europe, and each hide is checked and marked by experts. It takes around 150 hours of work to
craft all leather interior by hand. The process ends with etching of their initials inside the
upholstery
Engine
At the heart of every Bentley super car is that one W12 engine, which is also handcrafted. Once
completed every engine goes through regressive testing and eventually signed off by the
specialist.

5. Bentleys Balance sheet
Worldwide Bentleys are sold via various dealership networks. Bentley has a market share of
25 % in super luxury segment i.e. cars above €150,000 thus leading as a luxury car maker in
the world. One can also say one out of four super luxury cars sold is a Bentley.
Bentleys operating profit for the year 2014 was €170 million from the total sales of 11 thousand
vehicles across the globe. It earned a revenue of €1746 million. Exports contributed for 86 %
of Bentley's total revenue stream in 2014. Bentley invests heavily in the automotive R&D
sector is currently third largest investor in the UK.
Bentleys believe in responsibilities and so has donated £500,000 to local and national charities
over the last 10 years.
Traditionally Bentley Motors are on high demand in the US, the UK and Europe. Asia is a fast
rising market, with China becoming the largest individual market. The potential is huge.
Figure 1 Sales market of Bentley, Wikipedia

6. Industry Outlook
According to Bain &Co. annual luxury report out of current luxury industries top three
performers are luxury cars, luxury hotels and fine arts. Taking a closer look at global auto
industry.
The global luxury car market was anticipated for a downturn following global meltdown of
2008 but it seemed relatively unharmed by the economic crisis rather they have been posting
growth figures which were driven by the some of the developing markets around the globe.
The top three German player brands Audi, BMW and Mercedes accounted for approx-80%
portion of the worldwide luxury car market. BMW is the undisputed over-all frontrunner in the
segment of luxury cars second comes Mercedes Benz and third Audi.
After 6 years of slowdown now there is some hope for European luxury car market as we saw
the segment expanding by 2% in the year 2014. After Europe, China now is major market for
the auto industry of the world, parting the USA to third spot.
Be it passenger car segment or luxury car segment, China has become the focus of marketers
in the auto industry. It is anticipated, luxury car segment of China, will be growing at CAGR
of 12% for the period 2014-2020 while the regular passenger car segment will see a growth of
around 8%.

7. The next in line focus market for luxury cars companies is expected to be the USA.
Both the markets USA & china has contribute the maximum to the sales figure of the top 3
European luxury car makers. The luxury car marketplace can see a price war among premium
luxury players who will be proposing promotional offers and other added benefits like service
and maintenance. While super luxury car makers can charge for their exclusivity.
Entry barriers to the industry
Competition – MEDIUM
The luxury car industry has medium amount of competition since there only about 15 major
luxury brands in the industry and each one has limited sources and mostly fight with difference
in positioning.
Life Cycle Stage – Mature
The industry being in existence for about 100 years now they are in more of mature stage. Most
luxury brands now own a heritage and legacy to follow on.
Capital Intensity –High
Luxury Cars require most advance technology and finest and rarest of resources on making.
Adding to this is the cost of very skilled craftsman and the whole factory setup. All the above
factors make this industry capital intensive.
Technology Change – High
Luxury cars come with complex engines and other advance technologies to control the same.
This makes this industry very technology dependent.
Regulation & Policy – Medium
Luxury cars caters to top 1% of the global population making it very niche giving governments
across to levy heavy taxes. Apart from taxes industry has to deal with trade tariffs and policies
for import and export of the finished goods

8. Market Study - USA
Americans come second on the global level when it comes to spending on luxurious goods.
But for Bentley America was the largest market in 2014, with about 3000 cars delivered to
customers followed by china with 2,500 cars delivered. UK came in third.
Focusing on US market the overall auto sector saw a weakened growth after economic crisis
of 2008 but its demand for luxury cars is improving following improvements in
macroeconomics. Segmentation of auto sector shows, sports and luxury car industry together
comprises 17 % of the American auto industry.
5%
12%
41%
43%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
Sports Cars Luxury Cars Compact and
Subcompact Cars
Midsize and Full-Size
Sedans
Auto Segments USA-2015

9. The auto manufactures in US earned $107 billion as revenue in the year 2014 showing a growth
of about 5.4% compared to 2013. Here exports accounted for $57.3 billion. And profit
accounted to $4.5 billion showing a growth of 2.5% over previous year. The base price of
standard &luxury vehicles continue to rise over the years giving higher profit margins. Luxury
automobile makers employ several pricing policies to get the maximum profit from the buyers
The Industry is highly fragmented because of independently held dealerships. Much of the
business takes shape at these dealers. Luxury car dealers sell both new and second hand cars,
in addition they also provide routine maintenance followed by repair and warranty services for
the customer. For luxury car buyers’ price comes secondary to customer service, hence dealers
take much emphasis on staff training programs & single point service centres, for a better
experience.
Market is also split because of small and large companies. Large corporations can offer more
variants of vehicle and are well stocked in terms on inventory. Whereas smaller companies can
offer their clients unique boutique experience and better personalised service
US car industry can be segmented on basis of price range or type of car like sedan, SUV, sport
luxury, super luxury:
17.6
17.1
16.1
9.4
8.8
8.7
6.1
4.9
2.9
2.7
2.4
0.8
0.7
0.2
1.6
0. 2. 4. 6. 8. 10. 12. 14. 16. 18. 20.
BMW (BMW)
Mercedes-Benz* (Daimler)
Lexus (Toyota)
Audi (VW)
Cadillac (GM)
Acura (Honda)
Infiniti (Nissan)
Lincoln (Ford)
Volvo (Volvo)
Land Rover (Tata)
Porsche (VW)
Jaguar (Tata)
Maserati (Fiat)
Bentley (VW)
Other**
Luxury vehicles: United States premium vehicle market
share 2014

10. Leading Luxury Car Brands - Competition
Industry is becoming dominated by Japanese and German brand
• German-claimed, makes premium autos under brand MINI, BMW and Rolls-Royce names
• BMW has 17 worldwide offices with outer subsidiary’s in developing countries (India,
Thailand)
• 2014 unit sold = 339,738; 9.8% yearly change (50% income from Europe, half from US and
China)
• Subsidiary of Volkswagen-AG, makes first-class autos vehicles
• Entering little, powerful engine industry to obtain Ducati and dispatching diesel enigne
innovations
• 2014, total cars sold 182,011; 15% year on year growth (75% income came from Europe,
half of cars sold to USA, China)
• Subsidiary of Japan-based Toyota, produces utility-vehicles, traveller car and sports car
• Differentiates itself from contenders with being ahead of time and appropriation of
innovation, quality and unwavering quality
• 2014, cars sold 311389 units; 13% yearly growth
• German organization, symbol of status, achievement and great taste; renowned by pop
culture
• First movers in industry of luxury automobiles in mid-1900's; separates with assortment,
extravagance highlights and safety measures
• 2014, cars sold 356136 units; 6.5% yearly growth
• Launched in 80's under Japans organization Honda with 2 models
• Distinguished with low proprietorship costs however attempted to grow product offerings
and needs specialty market
• 2014, cars sold 167843 units; 1.5% yearly growth

11. Luxury Consumption Pattern
Luxury goods buyer look various desirable characteristics in their products. Same is true for
super cars. Currently there is no manufacturer of an `ideal luxury car'. But people associate
different characteristics with the car depending upon their country of origin. European owners
give a premium amount on qualities like durability and performance in a car. Japanese luxury
owners give importance to 3 characteristics, performance, quality and value. American luxury
owners go for comfort primarily and then they seek performance and quality.
Globally about $1.1 trillion was spent on luxury goods in the year 2014. Tracking the money
spending habits of the super-rich $437.8 billion is spent on luxury cars. Rest they splurge on
personal goods, hotels, food, private jets, furniture, yachts and cruises.

12. Reaching the Consumers using Marketing Strategies
Brand Image in public
Drawing brand equity pyramid, we get Bentley resonates with elegance and power. And people
perceive it as Classy, Fast and of high quality. A Bentley invokes feeling of royalty and prestige
as it is associated as British ultra-luxury car brand.
Strategies
Bentley does not use any of mass media like TV,OOH or radio to promote themselves, rather
they do lot of events, sponsorships, associations, in movie promotions. To reach out to their
customers they use traditional medium like magazines ads and new media digital media. They
keep their social dialogue with brand lovers via Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

13. Bentley wants to create a complete sense of luxury for their consumers so they diversified into
executive furniture and luxury homes. They launched their trial collection in 2013and now
collaborated with Luxury Living Group, an Italy based furniture maker, to extend their design
philosophy.
Bentley also offers limited edition co-branded products under licensing format.
Entinger and Bentley Luxury travel products in leather in colours form Bentleys 120
extended palette, handmade using Bentleys hide.
Estede and Bentley Top line of sunglasses and designer frames containing the famous
B-emblem of Bentley and presented in a leather case
Zai and Bentley Bentley Styling studio and Zai designed innovative skiing products
those are handmade in Switzerland
Bentley Room London’s Mosimann’s is designed with an inimitably British blend
of style and tradition with a dash of Bentley decor and detailing.
Regis Hotel The Bentley Suite at St. Regis Hotel in New York is exclusively
designed to provide their guests with suite full of Style, luxury&
craftsmanship linked with Bentley
Sponsorships
In its developed markets of the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe, Bentley,
through its dealerships, frequently welcomes clients to join in national golf competitions that
held in cross-country manner; the champ is delegated with the Bentley "Continental Cup".
These occasions unite golfers from various countries with enthusiasm for golf and Bentley
invigorate and fortify its picture of extravagance and selectiveness.
In its recently discovered markets in the rising economies, Bentley builds awareness of its
brand through motor-shows,-displays, -openings of fabulous showrooms, and marking of
restrictive dealerships to highlight the craftsmanship, quality and-extravagance of a Bentley
auto and the legitimacy of the Bentley-name. Every one of these occasions occur in the most
financially created and stylish metropolitan ranges, for example, Sao Paulo in Brazil, Shanghai,
Shenzhen and Beijing in China, and Mumbai in India.

14. New Media
Bentley-Motors, has made an application that makes a customized auto design, taking into
account the client's interests, way of life and identity sort. The Bentley Inspirator utilizes
feeling emotions programming that makes an independently planned car. It has been made by
VML London, which utilized emotions metric calculations made by utilizing information from
3.4 million faces in more than 75 nations.
The product tracks the client's enthusiastic responses as they watch a film that’s located inside
the application. The video demonstrates collection of “lifestyle-themed visual stimuli“ , for
example, a surfer riding a wave, a group at a music gig and a ballet artist in front of an audience.
The application records the client's outward emotions in real time and tailors the story of the
film. It additionally makes up a virtual Bentley utilizing the information about the person.
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