Looking Ahead

DR. FRANK-STEFFEN WALLISER is the Chairman and CEO at Bentley Motors, based at the Crewe factory in England. With a background in engineering and a notable career at Porsche, Dr. Walliser brings expertise to Bentley that is set to take the brand to new heights in the luxury automotive sector as it transitions to electric vehicles. He sat down to chat with Nic Waller at The Quail during the week of Pebble Beach car events.

NIC WALLER: The first question I have is regarding a lovely quote I read from W.O. Bentley when he created his first cars, when he said he “wanted to build a fast car, a good car, and the best in class.” Is that still at the heart of the Bentley Motors DNA?

FRANK-STEFFEN WALLISER: It is, and I would say it’s also quoted during daily work. When you define products, when you talk about features and everything, this is always like a guiding principle for all of us at the Bentley company. You also can find this quote posted in all the areas in the factory, just to remind people about that. Because the Bentley heritage and specifically the WO heritage are so important. It’s always good to hear something like that quote from the founder — it gives a lot of motivation to the teams. We also have a wonderful bronze sculpture of WO that is kept in pride of place so we can remember who actually started the company.

Looking forward to the next era for Bentley, could you tell me more about the “Beyond 100 Strategy” that outlines the company’s ambitions?

We now call it Beyond 100 Plus, because we first established that in 2019 when we kicked off Beyond 100 during the hundredth birthday of Bentley from 1919 to 2019. And we have now reworked it into Beyond 100 Plus.

As you go from a strategic perspective every five years, you renew, you look at the new markets and part of the plan was the intention to be fully electric by 2030. With all the recent market feedback, we have postponed that targeting until the beginning of 2035. Mainly because we see a very different development in the acceptance of electric cars.

In Europe, in comparison to the US and even the UK, there are local differences in our ambitions for the future. And China and Japan are also very different situations for us. So, we must balance our portfolio and the offer to not lose the market. We will come out with our first fully electric car in 2027 and that will be revealed at the end of 2026.

So, these plans are all going on with peak investment in electric cars and we will also push more for plug in hybrids. Our research shows very, very good acceptance for the hybrids, especially in our luxury segment. Hybrids are now accepted by most people, and it’s also a first step in electrification, and interestingly, these people normally say that they don’t have to charge it — I can just use the engine, but once they have the car, they charge it all the time… they love the electric drive, and so it’s a first step in electric cars. Everybody loves the power and the instant throttle response and everything that comes with that, but you have to drive it to become a fan.

I think owners and drivers have changed a lot over the years. If you go back 15 or 20 years, everything about your car was clear: you have a number of gears, a number of cylinders and you knew the power output, and then you had the weight of the car, and you had a clear idea of how driving it felt like.

I remember a Paul Frère quote from many years ago when he said that when you have 200 horsepower per ton in a race car, that is when the fun starts! And now with electrification, these equations are not valid anymore because when you get in an electric car, the weight is way higher — which you don’t expect — and then you have all these active suspension systems and dynamic driving systems, and rear wheel steering. All the trickery that is in the modern car. Then you drive it and it does not feel like what you had in mind in terms of power and all these other sensations. This is why it’s so important to drive these cars.

Bentley has always, throughout its existence, been right at the top of the automotive tree as it were. Is maintaining that position as a leader in the ever- changing luxury market, still the goal?

Yes, for sure, this is daily work and daily effort for the complete team to stay ahead in build quality, and everything else. It’s a very high priority with the materials and the design but also we must stretch it to the next level and take bigger steps, this is definitely something we have the potential for. And then you have the technology of plug-in hybrid drivetrains, and for all the info-entertainment and self-driving capabilities. All the stuff that is coming up for a small brand such as Bentley, is not so easy I would say, but we are on it and it’s also part of the fun!

I’ve got a very cheeky question for you: with Jaguar possibly changing direction, is there a place, do you think, for a more modest Bentley, to maybe take over that sector if Jaguar disappears?

Of course, I hope they don’t disappear! Jaguar is a great brand, with great history, and everything. So, I keep my fingers crossed that the new era of Jaguar will work, but it will take a little bit of time. No, honestly, we don’t have plans to offer something like that. No plans at all. Maybe there’s a market, but I am sure that is not the right way to go for us.

Harking back again to Bentley during the 1920s, will Bentley return to its roots in racing, with another period of Le Mans successes?

It would be nice. It’s always in our discussions. On the other hand, it’s very important to get the right timing. These days, racing is also a huge investment. And it means, from my experience at Porsche, it’s always a long-term commitment. You cannot just come in and then go out. That does not work. You have to build up your credibility, but also your team, your capabilities and everything.

And if I look at Le Mans for instance, it’s super tight: we are talking about a gap of 14 seconds, after 300 laps, between first and second place this year. After 24 hours of racing! And this is not like a Daytona race style where you have a safety car and everything. Le Mans was a clean race. It’s incredible and it just shows the level of competition. The error margin is very small…there’s one pit stop that goes wrong, and you’re gone. You’re out.

I saw that Bentley engineered a fuel conversion to the Royal families two Bentley Limousine to bring down the CO2 emissions that used by King Charles — is there a place for hydrogen based sustainable E-fuels in Bentleys future?

E-fuel, from my perspective, will play an important role in bringing down CO2 emissions because at the end of the day, we are talking about global CO2 reduction, not only with the introduction of electric cars, although this is the main route. And most cars will change over during the next 20 years. We have 1.4 billion cars in the world, and we have areas like South America, Africa, parts of Asia, that will not run on electric cars or will be the last in line for the electrification process. E-fuels will play, and should play, an important role that you can use with the existing infrastructure. This is why hydrogen is interesting, but not liquid or not in the gas form. It will be with a single carbon atom that you have in methanol that will be the base — a green methanol.

How does Bentley personalize the ownership experience from the first order to the delivery? What’s the timeline?

Well, that depends on your ideas. I would say there’s really no limit to our capabilities and what we can offer. If you go for a very personalized car, it will take you six to nine months. And that should definitely include a visit to Crewe to see the facility and to also get ideas. We have a lot of customers walking through the facility and through our different departments. They really create ideas, and they say, oh, I was not aware of this — it looks really good. They see the ladies doing something incredible with leather in a particular color and they want to have the same in their car and then you go through the process from beginning to end.

Do you still have the Mulliner department to bring customer ideas to life?

Yeah, yeah, for sure. Mulliner is a very important part of Bentley individuality. Mulliner content is growing each year. The new color ranges with the two-tone colors and blends are very successful and these are the head turners that people are looking for. The two-tone designs are not wraps: it’s paint… often up to 55 hours of painting on top of the normal process. That’s the importance of going to Crewe…when you see what is possible both inside the car and out. Mulliner makes each car unique.

What are the biggest challenges and opportunities for Bentley these days?

The challenges are, and I would say that this is for the complete car industry, is to get this transition to the electric car right — timing wise. Too fast, you will not benefit because you can only serve the early adopters, it will not be enough. Too late, and it could also be a big problem. So we have to get the timing right, and we must keep going with this transition. Keep what Bentley is all about, and keep to the values of your brand.

For instance, our electric car will come with a proper Bentley style interior: you will see wood and you will see leather and we will not skip anything just because it’s electric. This is very important. It’s keeping that identity and authenticity. Power is not a problem anymore and we’re looking at range and recharging times which are getting better and better… you will see the differences.

Acceleration for many electric cars is sub three seconds from 0 to 60. So, where’s the difference between brands? Top speed is not important in all countries but it’s important so you can say “well I have the quickest car,” it’s definitely important for our cars. Of course, as long as you’re not on the German Autobahns, it’s often impossible to do more than 80 mph but the power tells you something about the engineering quality of your car. It’s a little bit like your wristwatch that can go down a thousand meters underwater. You will never do that, but you can boast about it. It’s like playing Top Trumps! Even entry level cars are now accelerating like super cars. So, this is why it’s so important to keep the brand values and the craftsmanship, everything must be well engineered.

Lastly, again going back to Bentley’s roots and the WO vintage era, are there plans for doing another continuation car, like the Blower and the Speed Six?

Well, we’ll see. I think we have already covered the main cars. There are some other ideas going on, but we have not decided on our next project. Going back 100 years, it was all about the engine and the chassis. So yes… maybe we might see different body styles and body types on these new/vintage chassis.

People really enjoyed the “new” Blowers and now they are racing with them at the Le Mans Classic, but they are absolute works of art that take your breath away! I had dinner yesterday with one of the owners of the new Blowers, and you cannot imagine how proud he was that his car left the quickest lap time a Blower Bentley has ever done.

If you look at our heritage, Bentley was always driven by the results of their customers… in the ’20s the Le Mans-racing Bentley boys were private entrants. Back then it was the fans and the customers who were driving the brand and that is still the same today. We can still feel it… it’s an important part of our story.

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