Bentley Outsold Rolls Royce By 270% In 2014 - Is That A Good Thing?

I'm definitely not in this market so I'll just weigh in with a strictly personal opinion. I personally like the exterior design/features of Bentley more than RR ever since BMW bought it. The headlights, the proportion of the grill to the frontal area, the tails, etc. The interior is equally tasteful in my mind. But I think the key driver behind the sales result is i) the driving dynamics of Bentley is sportier which matches well with ii) the demographic of Bentley customers to RR, younger and more of them.

Just like how Ronald Reagan (And Bush Sr and Bill Gates) was happy to become the Knight of the British Empire by receiving the Order of the British Empire from the Queen of England....ah well I guess that has nothing to do with this article, even though that's a true story.

Well, I just wanted to say Bentley is indeed a very luxurious brand, and I actually noticed the Queen herself really seems to love it as well.

But, I don't really think this comparison means much? I mean, RR still sold a record number of cars last year.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-30692668

pretty sure RR doesn't care who sells the most cars, its not volume they are after I am pretty sure, the Bentley is just an overblown VW/Audi anyway ;)

But it IS about volume if BMW is going to continue putting money into RR. Without volume there is no business case. The Flying Spur and the Aston Martin Lagonda are much more gorgeous than the flabby, belchtastic, messes BMW is putting out as Rollers. The Phantom is horridly outdated. It may be time to sell RR to VW.

I love the Bentley Continental GTC and the Flying Spur's styling. Not so much for RR's styling, though I don't dislike it. But that's just me.

As for whether it's a good thing that Bentley outsold Rolls Royce, in my view, I believe Rolls Royce has a slightly more affluent and more mature audience, so they're not really direct competition. RR is also priced higher, being at the extreme top end of the luxury market.

I also don't believe Rolls Royce is trying to sell the most cars they can. I believe they want to keep the brand exclusive, in demand, and profitable. They're succeeding very nicely! They seem to have a winning formula.

This whole BMW-Rolls Royce vs. VW-Bentley saga is one of the most interesting stories of corporate intrigue over the past 20 years.

I think Bentley had the smarter marketing and the deeper pockets to pull off the (ego) acquisition and make it flourish.

The RR execution is targeting a market that really doesn't exist.

Bentley (and VW) is the winner here).

Want a prediction - BMW has grow and expand, or else it will wither on the dime because it doesn't really have a competitive economy of scale in the global auto market. I will bet that within the next 5 years, either BMW will purchase Fiat/Chrysler to get those economies of scale or else that BMW will be sub-summed by Toyota or Honda, as they decide they need BMW to truly move up-market.

My money is on Honda buying BMW, as the two have very similar "DNA" - they are both "engine" companies.

BMW has their own sub-luxury brands in China in order to expand their lineup and profits.

I don't really think you are good at predicting. Honda buying BMW. Funny. There was some guy who said Apple would buy BMW in 2014.

I guess anyone can make any predictions.

People don't want an expensive car that looks like a Checker cab

Although they are both targeting wealthy customers, Rolls-Royces are on average more expensive than Bentleys and RR customers are on average wealthier than Bentley's. However, I believe Rolls-Royce has not done as good of a job as Bentley in terms of marketing its brand image to its intended audience. Rolls-Royce's new more driver-oriented models, Ghost and Wraith, do not project its image of being the ultimate in grand luxury the way the Phantom does. People have long bought a Bentley instead of a Rolls-Royce because they want to drive themselves and/or they enjoy the better driving dynamics. Rolls-Royce has now entered that "drive yourself" ultra-luxury market but hasn't gotten that message across as clearly as Bentley has.

I believe Rolls-Royce will need to make an ultra-luxury SUV to stay competitive. Market data indicates SUVs are in huge demand in China and the U.S.,both huge markets for Rolls-Royce. If Rolls-Royce doesn't produce a luxury SUV it will lose many customers in these two critical markets to Bentley and its forthcoming SUV.

The ultra-luxury market has never been about volume for the sake of selling more cars. The ultra-luxury market has always been about protecting brand image, creating a sense of exclusivity, building cars of the highest quality and most importantly increasingly profitability. The CEO of Rolls-Royce has said this in many interviews. It will be interesting to see how the image of Rolls-Royce and Bentley changes as they introduce more models and increase sales volume.

yea, Bentley's are the Hyundai/Acura/Lexus of RR... The cars for the people who want the best but won't pay for it

The big Bentley front looks goofy as hell.

Come to think of it, so does the Rolls.