Bentley starts manufacturing new Bentayga at Crewe factory

Bentley Motors has announced production of the recently unveiled new Bentayga has started at its factory in Crewe amid new social distancing measures.

Deliveries will be commencing soon with customers in Europe being the first to experience the luxury SUV.

This follows a comprehensive review of the social distancing measures in place that now allows Bentley production output to increase from 50% to 100%.

Consequently, a small number of assembly areas have been redesigned implementing a revised takt time whilst enabling a controlled, safe working environment at a social distance of more than 1m.

All other areas will maintain a strict social distance of 2m and mandatory facemasks will remain throughout the factory.

As ramp up begins, the new Bentayga is reaching new levels of production quality, meeting Bentley’s own exacting standards. Over 100 colleagues work on the socially-distanced Bentayga production line as the car progresses through 43 stages of manufacture.

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Peter Bosch, member of the board for manufacturing at Bentley, said: “The new Bentayga is a celebration of all that we can do in Crewe and is a testament to the skill, passion and dedication of all of our colleagues who produce cars unmatched by any other car factory in the world. To deliver a sector-defining car that meets our own and customers incredibly high standards and expectations is a significant achievement, particularly at this early stage of production.

“In the lead up to manufacture commencing we reviewed each individual process to ensure its efficiency and effectiveness, implementing industry-leading lean techniques with social distancing measures included. What we are seeing at start of production is a car that is significantly revised, both inside and out, and yet reaching record quality in manufacture levels across the industry. Raising the bar again as the sector-defining luxury SUV.”

This transformation of the build process allowed even greater lean manufacturing principles to be adopted.

Over 1,500 manufacturing colleagues have undertaken education programmes in lean principles maximising value to customers while reducing waste in manufacture.

Changes include improved ergonomics, safer processes and reduced walking and waiting times due to repositioning and movement of parts.

The new Bentayga, the first car launched under Bentley’s Beyond100 business plan, is set to build on the success of its predecessor which sold more than 20,000 cars.

Bentley Motors www.bentley.co.uk