Bentley celebrates the fact that the brand has been producing cars for 75 years in Crewe, England. In doing so, it immediately compares current production figures with those from the past, which yields impressive figures.
Although the Bentley brand dates back to 1919 and is therefore much older than the Crewe factory, that place and the illustrious British brand are inextricably linked. Not surprising, after 75 years of car production in which almost all iconic models of the brand are included.
Although the name ‘Rolls-Royce’ is jealously avoided by Bentley, Crewe was chosen for that brand as a production location in 1938. The location was mainly chosen because the location was considered favorable for the production of aircraft engines for the then approaching war. That war meant that 10,000 people were already at work in Crewe by 1943, although that had little to do with luxury automobiles.
Rolls to Goodwood
Between the war and the mishap between Volkswagen and BMW that resulted in the current division of noble British brands, Bentleys and Rolls-Royces were mostly identical. They were also all built shoulder to shoulder in Crewe, in a traditional and above all significantly smaller scale way than is currently the case. When it was taken over by Volkswagen, the Crewe plant was wholly owned by Bentley. Rolls-Royce has since had its own home at the famous Goodwood Circuit under BMW.
The first Bentley to be produced in Crewe was the Mark VI. Since production started, only 197,086 Bentleys have been built in Crewe, representing 97 percent of the brand’s total production. In recent years, production has been considerably faster than in the initial period. Today, Bentley builds 85 cars a day, a number that took one month less than 20 years ago.