Ask anyone in the luxury business about what Chinese clients demand well scars and the answer is almost unanimously towards technology. But Bentley’s CEO, Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser, has just affirmed that digital will never be luxurious.
“Maybe it will be expensive, but not luxury,” Walliser told Newsweek, going to affirm that there will always be a need for good crafts.
While many modern luxury brands will agree, there has been a great change in what they want the next generation of rich people, with Marangoni Istituto, a private fashion, art and design private school, claiming that China will represent 25% of the world market for personal luxury products by 2030.
Generation Z and millennials, which represent 70% of luxury expenditure, look for more towards advanced AI attendees, immersive virtual reality and the latest innovations in technology, instead of open manifestations of wealth.
Walliser does not deny the need to adopt new and emerging technologies, since the company is scheduled to launch its first EV dedicated next year. But he continues to say in his Newsweek interview that luxury is linked to material and crafts, such as art.
“Digital art is not so successful. I will not say that it does not exist, but is the progress? No, it is not,” he continues to explain.
Bentley has recently been doubling his efforts to deliver artisanal vehicles and highly custom to those who are willing to pay for it.
It is said that a recent gradient painting finish ‘ombre of Mulliner’, for example, takes 56 hours of crafts to deliver and costs about £ 50,000 / $ 67,000 / AU $ 105,000, according to a Carwow configurator.
Similarly, its One Plus One Batur Convertible presents an interior finished by hand by the Bentley Mulliner Division with conductor seats and contrasting front passengers, complete with a luggage at the request of two pieces at the client’s request.
As a result, three out of four Bentley are leaving Bentley’s Crewe headquarters with custom mulliner content. More than ever, according to Newsweek.
Analysis: Ignoring the digital is dangerous
Although luxury car manufacturers continue to rely strongly on their brand history and traditional production methods, the market has seen a significant deceleration in China, which was once considered an important source of sales for Rolls-Royce, Bentley and more.
There have been changes in luxury taxes and financial uncertainty that will have affected trade, but the boom in the EV industry has also opened a considerable technological abyss between the East and West.
In addition, younger generations worldwide are increasingly looking for the latest digital characteristics, advances in AI and automated driving technology as key reasons to make a purchase.
Xiaomi, for example, sold more than 135,000 SU7 models in China last year, despite being its EV debut, while Porsche managed to change only 56,887 units of all its models during the same time frame.
In fact, most of the main German luxury brands are fighting in China for this same reason. Although it is still about to be seen if the tastes of Xiaomi, Yangwang and more will have an impact beyond their domestic market.
Despite the fact that ultra luxury brands tend to feel economic impacts to a lesser extent, navigate the digital world remains a complicated task, since they do not want to lose their identity, but they also want to avoid alienating new buyers thanks to the lack of technology.
The recent match of Aston Martin with Apple Carplay Ultra is an excellent example of this, since the software proved to be excellent and possibly what Carplay users have been demanding for years, but the masses of Apple -controlled screens also made the vehicle feel less special.
