Can Bentley's Success Do More Harm Than Good?

OK I read the article, where is the evidence that Bentley is losing its appeal?
In sales - no
In residual values - no, not yet
In time from order to delivery - maybe for the GT but not the convertible, whose order times can be a couple of years
In competition - no, there are currently no other sedans and coupes in the Bentley price range [except maybe the limited edition AMG Merc S and CL classes]

So what are we left with, some reviewers and critics are anxious about sales levels - well if the customer marketplace was anxious wouldn't residual values on Bentley GT's be collapsing? When they do, call me I'd like buy a used Bentley GT when its depreciation after three years matches that of the Merc S600 or previous generation CL600! That means a price of about $75,000-85,000 for a decent 2004 model of Bentley. Instead we see resale values of around $120,000 and up for the Bentley.

Exclusivity - You gotta click on the article to read it all.

I did read all the article, and I see no evidence of harm - you need to read all of my previous posting!

Oh and exclusivity is the only measure then that makes Maybach a big winner - since its sales are so miserable. So Agent 009 why don't you write an article about how Maybach is the most successful luxury brand!

Whether you want to admit it or not the S-Class has enoungh luxury for everybody. The only reason to go higher than that is exclusivity.

Whether you want to admit it or not the S-Class has enoungh luxury for everybody. The only reason to go higher than that is exclusivity.

Whether you want to admit it or not the S-Class has enoungh luxury for everybody. The only reason to go higher than that is exclusivity.

By the way resale prices on the Rolls Phantom are terrible - and sales are below some expectations - so maybe BMW shouldn't be so hands-off!

Bentley already announced that they won't be increasingn sales in the future.

Bentley is doing well and there is no need for negative spin.

It is interesting how the normal laws of economics don't truly apply to most luxury goods. Ususally, cost and emand are inversly proportional. WIth luxury goods however, in particular clothes, cost and demand are directly proportional; i.e. the more expensive it is the more it is wanted. This is generally true to cars as well, but I am not so sure it is true of Bentley anymore.

To me, for various reasons, the Arnage will always be what Bentley actually is and represents as a marque. However it is almost like there are now 2 separate Bentleys, and the newer cheaper one is the star. You always anticipate fewer sales of the more expensive vehicles due to the fact that fewer can actually affort them. I am not sure that is what we are seeing, I dare say, that the cheaper Bentley is in more demand: which is a very odd situation when a company is not defined by it flagship. It is entirely possible that those people who can afford the entire Bentley range and spending their money on the cheaper Bentleys.

There is another example of a brands' efforts to expand their customer base which resulted in serious brand image damage: Jaguar. There is a difference however, in that Jag expanded to the point where almost anyone can basically affort a Jag in the form of the X-type. Bentley is in no such position, they are still sufficiently expensive as to be preceived as out of reach by most people. That may be their saving grace with people who are new to the market.

Bentley has to make money, and I guess if they have chosen to cannibalize their name with a cheaper brand, then so be it. I don't think we have truly seen the effects of brand image damage yet, but it may happen.

Yeah, it's such a bad strategy that Rolls and Maybach are trying to copy it by coming out with lower priced models as well.

That is very true. Anything higher than an S-Class would just be for exclusivity. BUT!, quality is much much better on the ultra-luxury saloons (Maybach, Rolls, Bentley's) hands down.

Not necessarily. I wasn't all that impressed with the Maybach 57's interior (I sat in it at a Benz dealer in NYC). It seems like an overpriced hyper-S-Class. The S and A8 have enough beautiful touches in their interiors to do away with any notion of inferior quality to the upper-upper brands. After all, the Continental GT is based off the Phaeton, which is loosely based on the A8L.

It's not for exclusivity reasons alone, quality has a lot to do with it too. I feel much better knowing the steering wheel on my car was hand stitched rather than put together by some machine

here here.

too much production means standard of quality may drop due to the rush to get the product out. success financially but it may not be success if there are recalls or breakdowns.