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00:00This thing is a shocker. It's lighter, it's louder, it's rear-wheel drive, gas-only,
00:05a bruiser from a company that has been adding weight all-wheel drive and leading into
00:10electrification. So, Hannah, you were there last night. What did Bentley just unleash?
00:15This is a big tease about what we can expect to see more from Bentley, I think. Of course,
00:20it's been about a year since Frank Walliser, the CEO, joined the company. As you know,
00:26Frank came from Porsche, Porsche Motorsport, where he was the mastermind behind a lot of race wins.
00:31This is the first car that really has Frank's thumbprint on it. It's a big indicator that
00:37Bentley is doubling down. It's going to get a lot more boy racer, I think.
00:42I'm excited. As a boy racer myself, I'm very excited about that. The man behind the madness
00:46is with him. Frank Steffen Walliser is Bentley's relatively new CEO. He's been on the job a little
00:52over a year after a storied run at Porsche, where he didn't just win races, but he developed the
00:58918 Spyder supercar, which is one that we were looking at in the editorial meeting yesterday and
01:03all sort of in awe of. He joins us on set. Hannah dragged you in here after the debut. So,
01:11thanks so much for joining us. What is happening? Are you bringing Bentley back to its driver car roots?
01:18Yeah, definitely. I think that describes it pretty well. Bentley is and was always the driver's
01:25brand. And I'm joking a little bit because our club of fans is called Bentley's driver's club.
01:33So, yeah, to underline this and needs the right product for it, and we feel it's really beneficial
01:40for our brand if you can drive it. And the thrill of driving is a core of our brand and of our DNA.
01:47And it was for many, many years. And we said, yeah, let's let's make the products that even
01:52underline it more. And we had some fun by putting this car together and developing it and bringing it
01:58to life. I remember when Hannah last year at some point did a story where she went out driving with
02:03you in in the Continental GT speed. Right. And I remember saying, like, everybody is watching Frank
02:13now and they're going to wait for the first car that he develops because of your track record at Porsche.
02:17Right. Is this the first vehicle that has your your imprint on it? Yeah. Yeah, definitely.
02:23Well, the story started honestly at day two when I when I joined Bentley and we had what we call the product
02:30background table. That is, I would say, of official meetings, gathering of engineers, sales, marketing,
02:38design, finance. And we talked new ideas in an open space. Normally in the evening takes sometimes hours
02:46and it's very open. And this was the second day and I joined it. And it was the idea around what can we do
02:52on Continental. And I said, yeah, let's go for it, but make it please as extreme as possible.
02:58And I brought a little bit of my experience in. But the interesting thing for me was in Bentley, it was always
03:06there. It just really had to ignite it. And then people immediately know what to do and what to go for.
03:12And they really went above and beyond timing wise, content wise, what's possible engineering capabilities really
03:20great through the whole company. So it really defined not only a new car, but also a new spirit in the company.
03:26Frank, I know we've made so much about this as a V8 and especially that this is a non hybrid vehicle.
03:32But I also know you guys have some electric vehicles in the pipeline as well. So what's the balance at Bentley
03:38going to look like between EVs and then internal combustion in the future?
03:42Well, looking looking at regulation, looking at how the market splits up, I think it's even more important than it was in the past to offer a balanced portfolio.
03:51So I'm very proud. And one of our next announcements will be the next Bentley. So we add another car, what is what is in general great news and yes, it will be electric.
04:04And so customers of Bentley have the choice between plug in hybrids, pure ice engines and an electric car. And also the electric car will be a driver's car, beautiful designed, tech wise on the next generation.
04:20So a big choice for our customers. And I'm sure it will bring customers to the Bentley brand that would have never considered us.
04:29You know, I'm really curious about that. As we move deeper into tech, how does Bentley still define luxury in this space where you're going, OK, we're going racing, seems like, and we're doing tech.
04:42Where does luxury fit into that?
04:44I think luxury comes with many aspects. One is it's definitely the engineering, the craftsmanship behind it, what we can offer.
04:53And this is maybe also a sweet spot for super sports, because it offers you really the thrill of driving. And I had the chance to drive the car on racetracks in Spain.
05:02It's really a difference if you drive that car. But it comes with all the craftsmanship, with the leather, with the quality, with the Bentley, with the reliability of a Bentley.
05:12And that's a sweet spot in the market. And tech gets more and more important, but it has not to be mixed up with that.
05:22And we see some, especially Chinese, but also U.S. tech players, but they are tech offers. They are not luxury brands.
05:30And I think that's the difference. It's sometimes mixed up. And we have a very clear position on the luxury side, sporty interpretation of the luxury side.
05:38But we will not chase down our colleagues from Porsche or Lamborghini for lap times. We are in a different league.
05:44Frankie, you've also had to relocate to England, where the bulk of the Bentleys are being assembled.
05:54There were comments from the Ford CEO saying that he had thousands of mechanic job opens that they couldn't fill.
06:00Obviously, a very different offering for the people who are going to be working on a Bentley versus a Ford in a different region, America versus England.
06:06But how difficult is it in this very moment where the U.K. is facing some of those pressures, too, of getting the skilled labor that you need to assemble these cars?
06:14We are in a very good position. We are recognized as one of the top employers in the U.K.
06:21We are still very attractive. I think the offer, the packages we have for our employees, for our workforce is really attractive.
06:30We have a lot of people that work in their second and third generation.
06:35So it's very clear for family members, they work in Bentley.
06:39And so a high loyalty of our workforce.
06:43And I think this brings us in a good position.
06:47For sure, you're also part of to get the best talents then on the tech side, engineering side in the country.
06:55But at the moment, I would say it's not really a problem.
06:59We're well positioned and works pretty well.
07:01What about the rare earths and the, you know, the microchips ever since the supply chain debacle, the covid crisis and now the trade war with China?
07:11I was asking Mark Royce of General Motors, obviously a very different carmaker, but same semiconductors.
07:18Well, exactly. So he was saying what they really try and do, among other things, is engineer some of that stuff out so that they aren't reliant on it.
07:28Is it the same at Bentley, at Porsche, in the Volkswagen group?
07:31It's well, it's considered to be in the Volkswagen group.
07:33Partly you can engineer it out rare earths, but not everything comes with an advantage.
07:39So you have to balance it on the semiconductor side.
07:42For sure, Volkswagen has a big network.
07:45And after the post covid semiconductor crisis, a lot of processes within the Volkswagen group have been set up to respond to such a situation.
07:55And this is what now happened.
07:56And in comparison to the last chip supply shortage, and now it was politically, because someone said no, and then it stops immediately.
08:05It was not a factory or a shortage of any pre-material.
08:10But the processes that have been set up brought us in a position to, within hours, we knew which cars, which factory, which parts.
08:18And then you could immediately respond, it was less complex semiconductors, so you could work around.
08:25And so far we managed everything, so we have no shortage, we have no impact on manufacturing.
08:31And it looks like it's sorted now with supplies, is coming back again.
08:37So it just showed also how resilient Volkswagen in total was.
08:41And for sure, in the Volkswagen group, there's a high likability that if there is a semiconductor available, Bentley will get it, just on the contribution of our cars.
08:51Of course. Of course.
08:52I wonder about the effect of tariffs, because I've noticed kind of a split among luxury car makers when I talk to Benedetto Vigna.
09:01Okay, it doesn't matter so much to Ferrari buyers.
09:03The same is true when we talk with Steven Winkleman at Lamborghini, although, you know, they are going to have to raise prices, and it's maybe a little more sensitive.
09:14Meanwhile, at Aston Martin, it's a real problem, right? Maybe because their prices are too high to begin with.
09:20But what is it like for Bentley buyers, and how are you dealing with passing those prices on?
09:25It's, well, we looked, and you react on your pricing side every model year, what we did with the 26 model year.
09:35And I think we can deal it at the moment.
09:37But I would consider, in general, the market conditions have the bigger impact than the tariff impact.
09:46UK and US have a very, very good tariff agreement, so there's no complaints.
09:51It's the best in the world.
09:53To be clear, it's 7.5 more, so it's 10 in total.
09:57It used to be 2.5, so it's 7.5 more.
09:59Definitely something we can handle.
10:01We don't see really an impact on it.
10:04But the market is not as, yeah, as good as it used to be.
10:11I think it needs a little bit more stability, again, in the U.S., and a little bit better outlook.
10:17You just talked on the development of the stock market.
10:19That does not help.
10:22Will rate cuts help?
10:23Do rate cuts matter to Bentley?
10:26Yeah, we'll see.
10:27At the moment, it's a lot about the sentiment.
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