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Bentley India completes four glorious years...

Onlookers envy it and its proud owners fly past seated smugly in it with pride and satisfaction. Bentley, a name synonymous with sheer splendour and luxury across the globe, is four years old in India, since launch of its operations in the country. Till now the Indian market had exceeded all of Bentley’s expectations and in the light of this fact, Bentley on October 12, 2007 unveiled two new pieces of this art signifying opulence – Bentley Azure & Continental GTC sporting a price tag of Rs.3.80 crores and Rs.2.10 crores, respectively. Ian Gorsuch, Regional Director, Bentley Middle-East Africa & India, gets candid in an exclusive interview with 4Ps B&M...

What are your comments on the latest launches?
The cars – Bentley Azure & Continental GTC are one of the finest cars from the Bentley’s stable. The cars are the two most powerful convertibles – Bentley Azure – “the inspiration is classic and the execution is cutting-edge” and Bentley Continental GTC – “the convertible motoring at its exhilarating best.” The launch for sure will reinforce our position in the lucrative Indian luxury car market which is growing steadily by the day. The cars are a perfect blend of style, elegance, power & all that it takes to touch customers’ hearts.

Four years back in India... How has the Indian journey been so far for Bentley?
It has been a very interesting journey…. The first obstacle we had to overcome wasn’t to find customers interested in buying these super luxurious marvels. We knew there was demand in the market. It was to build confidence and trust in the market. With our world-class products and our strategies, over a period of time, we became successful in building trust & confidence amongst our valued customers.

How big and important is the Indian market for you?
Well at the moment, the Indian market is relatively small & is not as big as the other big markets across the sphere. Nevertheless, it’s growing steadily and we envision great future of luxury cars in India. Therefore, India enjoys an important place in Bentley’s global vision. Moreover, the Indian market is profitable for Bentley. We make profits and ensure that our dealers also make profits. We don’t enter markets which are unprofitable for us.

Of late there has been a lot of competition in the premium market. How do you ensure your sustainability?
We constantly look after our customers and build our brand around them, around their world. Customer service & satisfaction are the founding stones of the company. If someone buys a Bentley, then we aim to provide such an incredible experience so that their next car is also a Bentley. We sustain & excel our brand by constant customer communication. One has to understand that our competition is not just with other luxury cars. Buying expensive cars is more of an emotional purchase…. The customer may spend the money somewhere else like on jewellery or some other luxurious goods. So we have competition from other luxurious goods too.

And the road ahead...?
We will continue to bring the best from our stable for all our esteemed customers. We will extend our dealership base in the country – probably a dealer in Mumbai by the end of 2008. Our prime focus is not showrooms, it’s opening up service centres. Bentley will remain committed to the Indian market.

Siddharth Nahata

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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