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W.O BENTLEY
Bentley was founded in 1919 by Walter Owen Bentley, or W.O. as he was known. The first Bentley car, EXP 1, was completed in London, in 1919 at Cricklewood, where we produced our cars until 1931. Rolls-Royce bought the company for £125,275 in 1931 and from then on production moved to Derby until 1940, where the famous Derby Bentleys were made. Our factory now in Crewe, was built in 1938, originally to manufacture the Merlin aero engine – 26,065 engines were built between 1938 and 1946.
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Pyms Lane, Crewe
Car production commenced at Pyms Lane, Crewe in 1946 and today over 4,000 Bentley employees work at our Crewe headquarters. In 1998 Bentley was acquired by the Volkswagen Group, immediately investing over £1 billion to upgrade the factory. Pyms Lane is also home to CW1 House, Bentley’s flagship showroom concept, and named after Bentley’s postal code.
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CRAFTSMANSHIP
On average, 33 Continental GTs, 18 Flying Spurs and 33 Bentaygas are built a day. It takes around 110 hours to build a Continental GT, around 130 to build a Flying Spur and 130 to build a Bentayga. Bentley is recognised as the centre of excellence for Wood, Leather, and W12 Engine manufacture within the Volkswagen Group, every sheet of wood within a complete car comes from the exact same tree. This is to ensure the pattern and colour is the same throughout the car and remains consistent during aging.
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VW GROUP
But Bentley is not a small player in the global marketplace, it is one of the 12 automotive brands which make up VW Group – the world’s leading car maker. Our sister brands include Porsche, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Audi, VW, Seat, Skoda and Ducati, as well as commercial vehicle brands Scania, MAN and VW. Together these businesses employ 650,000 people across 125 locations on five continents. For Bentley Colleagues this amazing organisation opens up literally a whole world of opportunities, including the potential to go on secondment with other brands.
