Bentley goes on the attack

MERCEDES-BENZ'S position as the world's pre-eminent luxury car manufacturer will be targeted in a "pincer movement" by Volkswagen and its prestige brands Audi and Bentley.

The aggressive strategy was revealed by Bentley's worldwide sales and marketing supremo, Adrian Hallmark, who was in Australia briefly last week to visit the company's five local outlets, including three new outlets opened this year in Sydney, Melbourne and the Gold Coast.

Mr Hallmark said Bentley would attack Mercedes-Benz from above with its new MSB (Mid Size Bentley) range and Volkswagen from below with the new D1 luxury car, while Audi would continue its existing challenge.

Mr Hallmark explained the strategy while deflecting questioning about possible clashes between Bentley, Audi and VW, which are seeking a bigger share of the luxury cake.

"If you nut it out and look at our price ranges and product ranges, we don't tend to overlap," Mr Hallmark said.

"What we do do is create a pincer movement around Mercedes-Benz.

"If you look at what that does to the player that has the majority share of that segment at the moment - Mercedes - it gives them a bigger problem than it gives us from an internal group point of view, and that's part of the strategy for those brands to move up and move into that sector.

"Audi will be the more traditional German equivalent to contest with Mercedes, we (Bentley) bring something different and we do it from above and not from below." Mr Hallmark said Volkswagen's D1 would attack Mercedes-Benz with a value proposition.

"There will be no doubt it will compete in all material ways with the luxury cars from Mercedes-Benz, but its imagery and proposition will be a more value for money oriented one," he said.

"Luxury itself isn't saleable, it's got to be luxury with some kind of purpose, whether that's performance or relative value for money, and that will be the Volkswagen approach." Volkswagen has injected 500 million pounds into Bentley for product development since it purchased the niche UK super-luxury car builder in 1998, the vast majority of which is being spent on the MSB, which will be unveiled early in 2003.

That debut will happen soon after BMW takes control of Bentley's sister marque Rolls-Royce and moves it from Crewe to a new home at Goodwood.

The MSB is expected to appear as a sedan and coupe, and possibly a convertible at a later date, with blown W12 engine power and all-wheel drive providing true supercar power figures and performance.

Exterior and interior styling for the MSB have been signed off. It is described by insiders as being nearly as large as the Arnage sedan, yet having a style which makes it appear much smaller.

It is likely to be priced marginally above the Benz S-class and CL coupe.

"The MSB will have more power and torque than virtually any supercar, it will have four doors and four or five seats," Mr Hallmark said.

"The product values will be combining a real supercar driving experience with an ability to take people with you with more luggage than any car that can do that kind of speed." The MSB will be the cornerstone of an ambitious sales drive from less than 2000 annual worldwide sales currently to around 9000 by 2005.

The Arnage and two-door range (Continental and Azure) will remain virtually unchanged in that time frame.

Australian sales are expected to rise from 2000's 12 to about 80 by 2005, although Mr Hallmark nominated 100 sales per annum as achievable in Australia.

Hallmark of success WITH less than 2000 customers worldwide annually for some of the most expensive new cars on the planet - pricing ranges between $435,000 and $805,000 in Australia - Bentley buyers have one common link.

"They are extraordinarily wealthy people - and 99.9 per cent of them made it through entrepreneurial skill, hard work and a few lucky breaks," Mr Hallmark said.

"The one common factor they have wherever you go around the world, they are driven people. They are not passive, they are active, they like to drive themselves.

"They buy the car for all sorts of reasons - to congratulate themselves, to enjoy the driving experience and because they appreciate the finer things in life. So it's more a shared mindset than a shared set of demographic numbers.

"But the averages are 51-years of age for the Bentley buyer, net worth $US12 million, number of cars owned six, 67 per cent of them own aircraft, 63 per cent of them own a second home, about 48 per cent own art collections. They all love motorsport "They are a fairly discerning, active, sophisticated target group that have worked hard to achieve what they have achieved."