Dubai: The first ever Bentley SUV is still a good year from its global launch, but that has not stopped 174 “buyers” in the UAE putting up Dh100,000 as deposit to register their very serious interest. While the actual showroom price of the model is yet to be formally confirmed, the carmaker’s website does not even have a full representation of how the model will even look like. (Speculation is that the price would be upwards of $200,000 as Bentley tries to put its considerable imprint in the nascent super-luxury SUV category.)
“There is already considerable customer interest in the car, and particularly so from this market,” said Kevin Rose, Member of the Board for Sales and Marketing at the Volkswagen Group-owned Bentley Motors. “The first models are due to arrive in UAE showrooms by December next year or the first weeks of 2016.”
Expectations are that 400 units of the model would be sold in the UAE in the first year, out of a total production run of around 3,000 units. “We believe 3,000 units a year is a good production number to have, ensuring as it does the exclusivity that buyers seek from the Bentley ownership experience. The other models we have are already well established, with the Continental and the Flying Spur enjoying years of committed demand.”
As such, Al Habtoor Motors, its local partner, is already the most successful Bentley dealership in the world, accounting for more than 480 plus units last year. It had sold 83 units in 2010.
“We could do even more units of the SUV if we could have more allotments marked for us,” said Karl Hamer, Managing Director of Al Habtoor Motors. “Ideally, we expect to receive the first unit for this market when the new Bentley showroom — one of a limited number of flagship facilities anywhere in the world — on Shaikh Zayed Road opens late next year.” (Once open, it will be difficult to miss with a live screen on the facade of the ground plus two-storey structure, and another three levels below the ground.)
Investments are expected to be in the region of Dh85 million. “It’s a world of Bentley we are creating, and that means it will not be a garage,” said Hamer. “The ambience and the experience will not be out of place from what one can expect in a top-notch hotel, with customised services and a being met by a concierge on arrival.”
Meanwhile, at the global level, Bentley keeps adding to its dealer network. This week, a new one opened in Vietnam. The expectations are that worldwide sales will grow beyond the 10,120 units it did last year.
China may have slowed just that bit, but Japan and South Korea is turning in strong numbers, while in the US Bentley retains the top status within its category. But one cannot discount what the impact will be of the ‘known unknowns’, as Rose puts it.
“A lot depends on the strength of recovery in key markets — the UK remains strong but there are the general elections coming up. The Continent still has issues with bad debt, while there is all the unrest in Hong Kong.
“But a definite plus is there are more and more wealthy people in the world and that’s always a good thing for Bentley.”
