The manufacturing milestone is even more remarkable when you consider that the 200,000th car is the last in 155,582 vehicles manufactured in Crewe since 2003.
By Ameya Naik
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From 1919 to 2002, the company built 44,418 luxury cars, of which 38,933 were made in Crewe.
Bentley Motors celebrated the 200,000th luxury car built in the company’s more than 100 years of history. The Bentayga Hybrid, aimed at a Chinese customer, found the oldest surviving Bentley, EXP 2, and several longtime colleagues, as it exited the production line at Bentley’s home in Crewe this week. This crowns an extraordinary 20-year period when success driven by modern models like the Continental GT and Bentayga really changed the face of Bentley Motors.
Read too: Bentley aims to revolutionize the sustainability of electric motors
Bentayga HybriD encountered the oldest surviving Bentley, EXP 2, and several longtime colleagues, when it left the production line at Bentley’s home in Crewe
The manufacturing milestone is even more remarkable when you consider that the 200,000th car is the latest in 155,582 vehicles manufactured in Crewe since 2003 – the revolutionary year when the Continental GT was originally launched as the first model of the modern Bentley era. Today, Bentley is making 85 cars a day, the same production in a month two decades ago.
Compared to Bentley’s modern era, in the year Bentley first existed, 1919, until 2002, the company built 44,418 luxury cars – 38,933 of them in Crewe. Among that total were many iconic models of their time, including the Bentley Blower, the R-Type Continental, Mulsanne, Arnage and Azure. Incredibly, records show that 84 percent of all cars made for the UK market are still on the roads today.
A major investment program at the Crewe plant since 2003 has been accompanied by the success of the Bentley Continental GT, the ultimate luxury Grand Tourer. The 80,000th individual specimen made to order was built in January this year.
Bentley President and Chief Executive Adrian Hallmark comments: “This production of the 200,000th car is just the latest milestone in the extraordinary journey that Bentley has made since its founding in 1919. In 2003, the introduction of the Continental GT represented a momentary transforming factor for the brand, and this Bentley alone, represented 80,000 sales out of our total of 200,000 and created a new segment and a contemporary image base for Bentley’s businesses. “
Bentley will move to full electrification – PHEV or BEV only – in 2026 and then change the entire model range for battery powered electric vehicles in 2030.
Read too: Bentley produces 80,000th Continental GT to order
Looking ahead, Bentley Motors’ ambitious plans for car production were outlined in November 2020, with its innovative Beyond100 strategy. The company aims to be carbon neutral from end to end by 2030, with the climate at the Crewe plant positive thereafter.
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Bentley will move to full electrification – PHEV or BEV only – in 2026 and then change the entire model range for battery powered electric vehicles by 2030. The industry-leading Beyond100 Strategy will transform all aspects of the business as Bentley accelerates in its second century of luxury car production.
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