The Bentley Continental GTSpeed convertible is pictured during the media day ahead of the 84th Geneva Motor Show at the Palexpo Arena on Tuesday. Picture: REUTERS
The Bentley Continental GTSpeed convertible is pictured during the media day ahead of the 84th Geneva Motor Show at the Palexpo Arena in March 2014. Picture: REUTERS

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LUXURY British vehicle maker Bentley has appointed a new distributor in SA. Bentley, which is part of the Volkswagen Group, has until now been distributed in the country by Imperial Group, but that arrangement came to an end on Monday.

As of March 1, the luxury brand is being distributed by LSM Distributors, the company that also imports and distributes Porsche.

This now places it under the control of Toby Venter, CEO of LSM Distributors, who also purchased the Kyalami Grand Prix circuit at auction in 2014 for R205m. Since then, Mr Venter has spent an additional R300m refurbishing the famous circuit, including a new conference facility currently under construction for between 50 and 2,500 delegates.

Mr Venter also recently purchased the Uva Mira wine estate near Stellenbosch, which he says will soon be producing the first Kyalami branded wine. Not surprisingly it will feature a gear lever motif as the bottle top.

Mr Venter’s decision to take on the distribution of Bentley in this country is based in part on the brand’s positioning within the Volkswagen Group.

"Porsche, Bentley and Bugatti are part of one business unit in the Group now," said Mr Venter. Bentley’s current chairman and CEO, Wolfang Durheimer, is a former boss of Porsche.

"We have been offered many great brands over the years and declined them," said Venter. "Bentley is part of the Porsche business unit and its pricing model takes off where Porsche pricing stops."

"There are lots of historical parallels between the brands. Both are purist brands," he said.

"We are delighted to have LSM Distributors Group as our new retailer partner, and we look forward to a long and successful relationship," said Neil Wilford, Bentley’s regional manager for Middle East, Africa and India.

Bentley, based in Crewe in England, is entering a new era with the company set to launch its new Bentayga luxury sport utility vehicle (SUV) in SA in April with a starting price of R3.987m. Its arrival marks the beginning of a super luxury SUV battle, with Maserati due to launch its first SUV, the Levante, later this year and Rolls-Royce developing its own take on the genre in the form of the Rolls-Royce Cullinan.

Mr Venter is confident that the Bentayga will boost sales for the brand in SA and while he would not divulge exact numbers, he said the order books were filling up.

"The timing for acquiring the rights to distribute the brand could not have been better," said Mr Venter. The Bentayga is the start of a series of new models coming from the brand including a new Continental GT in 2018, which will share a platform with the next generation Porsche Panamera.

Mr Venter would not be drawn on the investment required to establish a new presence for Bentley in the country, but he has already taken over the former Toyota showroom in Melrose Arch. This will be home to the brand for at least the next three to five years, but he says he is also looking at a new purpose-built facility that is likely to be on the Kyalami circuit site. A dealership in Cape Town was also being established.

Synergies between Porsche and Bentley will also allow the local distributor to make use of existing facilities. While servicing of vehicles will be conducted at Bentley centres, Porsche body shops will take care of repair work.

"Our objective is to provide Bentley owners with an unmatched service experience," said Mr Venter, adding that the showrooms would provide a "quintessential Bentley experience" and include social spots such as The Blower Cafe, named after the famous Bentley "Blower" race car of the 1920s.

Like many car makers, Bentley has become a multifaceted brand today. Mr Venter is targeting not only the new and used vehicle market but also the increasing merchandising side of the business. Today, Bentley even produces luxury handbags.

Mr Venter now has two out of the three brands in that one Volkswagen Group business unit. The other is Bugatti and the company showed its new R42m Chiron hypercar at the Geneva Motor Show this week. Is there a market for it in SA? "Bugatti is not out of the question," said Mr Venter.