On the 19th (local time), at the Bentley factory in Crewe, a small town in northwest England. Stepping into the car seat line, the cheerful whir of sewing machines—"drrrk, drrrk"—filled the ears. In front of workbenches lined with bobbins in dozens of colors, employees were stitching seats one stitch at a time. It was a scene unfamiliar in ordinary car plants, where robot arms move busily. What was even more surprising was that for each employee, the seat material and color, as well as the stitch pattern, were all different.

The Bentley factory in Crewe, a small town in northwestern England. Its 1,000 employees produce 700 cars a year./Courtesy of Lee Yoon-jung

Bentley, ranked alongside Rolls-Royce and Maybach as one of the "world's three great luxury cars," is Britain's top handcrafted automaker. Unlike other brands with production bases around the world, every Bentley is born only here at the Crewe plant. The plant, with 1,000 employees, produces just 700 cars a year. Wayne Bruce, a Bentley director, said, "It takes five hours to build a Nissan Qashqai, a popular model in Britain, but a Bentley takes 10 times that."

The reason production takes so long is that most processes pass through human hands. Only two robots—"Romeo" and "Juliet"—work in this plant. Introduced 10 years ago, these robots handle only interior panel painting and windscreen installation. Director Bruce said, "Except for those two tasks, everything is done by hand," adding, "Putting in more robots would reduce expense, but it would not fit our 'handcrafted' brand identity, nor is it what customers want."

◇ From interior materials to seats tailored to taste… the 'industrialization' of handcraft

Bentley insists on handcraft to realize "Mulliner," the industry's top-level personalization program. Bentley customers can freely reflect their preferences starting with interior materials. The most expensive wood panel we saw that day was extracted from a 5,500-year-old oak. Customers can apply their desired color to it to decorate the dashboard. There are no material limits. They can choose stone or carbon, among others. Recently, there have even been requests to use "eco-friendly leather" for seat material.

Some of the materials Bentley customers can choose for the dashboard garnish. Options range from material sourced from a 5,500-year-old tree (far left) to thinly layered stone./Courtesy of Lee Yoon-jung

Bentley CEO Frank-Steffen Walliser said in an interview that day, "The process of specifying a Bentley is not a simple transaction," noting, "Customers visit the Crewe plant, sit down with designers to examine materials, and configure each vehicle specification one by one." In fact, after touring the factory, one customer reportedly added about $500,000 (about 760 million won) worth of options on the spot. Walliser said, "Some customers have torn up and rebuilt their specifications four times, and the whole process is part of the enjoyment."

Once choices for seat leather and finishes are complete, customers move to the "engine marriage (Marriage)" area where the engine and body are joined. It is the process of checking whether their ordered vehicle is being built correctly. Bentley assembles engines and bodies custom-ordered from Volkswagen. On the workbench that day, the 4.0L V8 (8-cylinder) engine of the large sedan "Flying Spur" was being readied to meet the body. Director Bruce said, "Every single part has the customer's name tag on it."

Bentley takes pride in having "industrialized" this demanding customization process rather than confining it to a traditional workshop model. CEO Walliser said, "The Crewe plant is a highly industrialized premium production facility operated on precisely defined processes," adding, "The right craftsmanship, on the right car, in the right color, at the right timing, is applied to ultimately produce cars with a high level of completeness."

An employee inspects Bentley seats. Bentley performs most processes by hand, from cutting the seat leather to stitching./Courtesy of Bentley

◇ Large-scale investment in the plant for electrification… "Craftsmanship and digitalization work together"

Bentley customers' personalization demands are becoming increasingly sophisticated. In response, Bentley is reviewing ways to formalize a level of customization that surpasses Mulliner. CEO Walliser said, "Over the past five years, the scale of personalization applied per vehicle has steadily increased every year, so there is ample need to formalize a higher level of bespoke configurations," adding, "If there is strong demand and passion, we will certainly find a way to respond."

That does not mean Bentley clings only to craftsmanship. In step with the shift to electrification, it is boldly refitting the plant. To unveil the brand's first all-electric vehicle in September, Bentley carried out large-scale investment, including installing three production lines in "A1," the oldest building at the Crewe plant. It also added a new design center, an integrated logistics center, and a state-of-the-art paint shop.

Walliser said, "At the Crewe plant, craftsmanship and digitalization are not conflicting concepts; they operate together within a single organic system," emphasizing, "In all aspects—including the battery production system, manufacturing methods, and the flow of data accumulated in vehicles during R&D—we have been completely upgraded and have reached a very modern and advanced level." He added, "The core elements that make Bentley 'Bentley-like' still remain intact in the cars, so I believe this balance has by no means been broken."

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