Volkswagen Group owned Bentley has opened a new Engineering Technical Centre, located at the luxury marque’s headquarters in Crewe.
It says the new facilities - officially opened by Chairman and CEO, Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser and Board Member for R&D, Dr. Matthias Rabe - will be pivotal to the brand’s preparations for future model development.
The Engineering Technical Centre forms part of an expansive investment programme in future facilities and products at the Pyms Lane factory in Crewe, where all Bentley models are handcrafted. The new centre brings together virtual and physical properties enabling collaborative working throughout.
It is located across two floors, covering a total of 13,000 sqm. The centre will include a prototype workshop for models of the future, materials development and a software integration department. Key to the facility’s harmonious integration is a structured, comprehensive application of skills in training, testing and launch preparation for all software and electrical, digital high-voltage systems.
The majority of these departments have been relocated from their previous home in the A1 building, which is the oldest building at the Pyms Lane site, and which is being transformed to BEV assembly in time for production to commence in 2027.
Commenting on the developments. Dr. Matthias Rabe, Bentley’s Member of the Board for R&D, said: “Our Beyond100+ strategy maps out a fundamental programme of change, using what is known now and adapting that vision as we adopt yet-to-be discovered technologies in the future. We are working on the next generation of electrified driving, digitally connected cars, with driving autonomy that will achieve the highest levels of luxury mobility.
“This new Engineering Technical Centre is a key building block for the successful delivery of this strategy and helps enable engineering concepts to become reality at the heart of development and integration, as we look to continue to create the most luxurious and performance-oriented vehicles on the market.”
Bentley’s Beyond100+ strategy will see the company reinvent its entire product range to support an electrified future. The opening of the Engineering Technical Centre will support these ambitions along with further expansions on site. These include the recently opened Design Studio and the continued construction on the new Paint Shop and Integrated Logistics Centre, due to open next year.
