From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Strategic memo outlining the plan for the Bentley brand, focusing on market position and model selection.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 3\4\ 04-page015 | |
| Date | 1st January 1932 | |
| NOTES. re BENTLEY. WHAT WE HAVE IN VIEW AND WHY. 1. The first idea of keeping alive the name of Bentley was: (a) To endeavour to make use of the goodwill created by the name amongst sporting drivers; (b) To endeavour to use that goodwill in getting more chassis work into Derby. It is agreed that we do not wish to build a car which would compete among the richest classes, as R-R can take care of that, and perhaps use quite a number of the old Bentley clientele to sell R-R cars to. 3. Therefore, we want to get into a cheaper class, but not too cheap; one which, in the main, is made up of people who like a fast car but cannot spend more than £1,000 and at the same time want something better than the well-known sports cars such as Invicta, Lagonda, Talbot, etc. 4. We, therefore, selected the 18 h.p. class for the following reasons:- (a) There are a fairly large number sold per annum. In 1931 (a bad year) there were registered new, for the year ending 30th September: 2545 17 h.p. Alvis, Vauxhall, Darracq, Lancia, Panhard, Derby 2378 18 h.p. Morris (Isis) M.G., Star, Talbot, Panhard. 2403 19 h.p. Delage and Essex. ---- 7326 ---- Although cheap cars are included, such as Morris and Essex, it at least shows this number of people who can afford the upkeep, if not the capital expenditure, who are therefore prospects. (b) The price must be fairly low, therefore it would be difficult for us to give, say a 25 h.p. size engine although we charged, say under £1,000, for the car complete, made by R-R, and justify our own price for a 25 h.p. R-R.{Sir Henry Royce} besides competing in a market we hope to retain and extend with our Continental 20/25 h.p. (c) The market for 25 h.p. size engine is a much smaller one, | ||