Bentley Unveils New Supersports, Matt Gets Pulled Over... Again

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I'm Hannah Elliott.

And I'm Matt Miller.

This is Hot Pursuit.

Coming up today, Bentley unveils its new Super Sport.

They're calling it their most driver-focused Bentley ever.

And who better to talk about it than Bentley CEO Frank Stephan Walliser?

And I also want to talk a little bit about the Audi RS6 that you've driven and has been

out this generation for years and years, but I just got to spend a weekend.

Plus, Porsche has a new all-electric Cayenne.

And Hannah, the reaction on social media, absolutely brutal.

Yeah.

And maybe you rightfully so.

Almost feels like a Jaguar rebranding moment.

Possibly.

I mean, it just feels like everybody in the world and their mother is doing a major

gut check saying, this is not what Porsche means.

It's not what it stands for.

And we want to get this out of here.

Get it out of here.

I think, you know, to be fair, I feel like Porsche,

they already know that this has been a problem their journey into EVs.

And it's caused hundreds of millions of euros in losses.

And the stock has lost half of its value since they started trading a couple years ago.

But it's been a disaster.

But also, you know, it is so weird.

I just went back and I looked at the numbers because I want to, you know,

the McCann has an electric version.

And I went back and looked at sales, the first half of this year 2025 of McCann.

And half of McCann sales were the electric version,

which I thought was actually surprisingly decent, considering how poorly

this whole EV experiment has gone for Porsche.

Yeah.

Isn't that weird?

No.

I mean, I expected that kind of thing because I was talking with David Welch,

who is our Detroit bureau chief at Bloomberg about this, and he reminded me,

there was a time when the purists were so angry about the Cayenne at all,

you know, when they first came out with it.

And of course, all of the-

I disagree.

All of, well, I remember the backlash.

I was living in Berlin.

It was the early 2000s and people were, some people were mad about it.

But that's the reason that we have all of these GT3 RS Y-socks now.

This is, I would say, I did actually listen to your interview with David,

and I completely disagree with that characterization.

It's apples and oranges introducing a completely new model like an SUV that has been proven

in the market.

And actually, Porsche was late to the game to introduce an SUV.

That was already proven as a surefire success because most of the American market is SUVs.

Everyone was already doing it, and that was a known quantity.

Porsche had to do it to make money and, you know, quote unquote, as the story goes,

save the company, which is probably debatable, but that's not the point here.

Here, this is something completely different, which is Porsche trying to move forward ahead

on something that is not proven.

And it's something that is still hotly debated and is something that is still in its infancy,

really.

I think that this is a completely different scenario.

Well, that's a fair argument.

And of course, you're right on many of those points.

BMW had such great success with the X5 before Porsche came out of the Cayenne.

And it's not just the EV part of this that people are reacting negatively to.

In fact, I think for the most part, it's the design.

I looked through the negative sentiment on the Instagram post,

the initial one, and it's most people are saying like, look,

this could be a car from BYD.

You know, why don't I just go ahead and buy a Chinese EV if they're going to be the same thing?

Yes.

Now that take I really do agree with.

And yeah, if OK, if this vehicle had come out and somehow magically looked really cool,

I think people would have been a lot more forgiving that, OK, it's an EV.

But the fact that it's electric and it looks like a blob.

The fact that it looks like a blob and is so clearly it does look like it was just created by AI.

Like there's there's no there's no personality.

There's no take.

It's just sort of a blob.

Of course, people are going to hate that.

And for good reason.

Now I was going to say that actually comes out of love because obviously Porsche is such a

beloved brand and like the people who are going to criticize the most are also the most

invested and the most engaged.

It's because they care and it means so much to them and they don't like it.

So I mean, it's a good sign that people are so upset in a way.

Because it means they're still engaged and they care.

Yes, it's not like Jaguar where people are just outright disgusted or confused or it was a

political thing because they were so woke.

This is definitely car enthusiasts who care a lot.

As faith no more said, we care a lot about Porsche.

But I will say Barry Ritholtz and you can probably guess what his response was.

He said 1136 horsepower.

Why do I care what a bunch of idiots on social media say to his point?

You know, I spent recently spent a week driving the Taycan.

It was an amazing vehicle.

Like it's not a 911.

It didn't really it reminded me of a Porsche because it looks like a Porsche and it has

the badging all over it reminded you of a Porsche.

It actually is a Porsche.

But anyway, but it was amazing for whatever it is.

It was great.

Now, the problem for me is it's the same price as a 911.

So why wouldn't I just buy a 911 because that's better.

Look, we always go back to the thing, which is after a certain point,

horsepower numbers are irrelevant.

It doesn't matter that it's 1100.

It doesn't matter if it's 2000 horsepower.

It doesn't know.

Here's the best way that I've ever heard it described.

You can cook a piece of meat in the microwave really fast.

But that doesn't mean it's going to taste better than if you cook it

for a slower time on a grill.

Right.

As long as it gets hot enough to cook.

Totally totally true.

You get the point.

You get the point just because a microwave can cook something super quickly.

But we don't want to eat microwave food.

We want to have char broiled, crispy, juicy, grilled steak.

Of course.

That's what we want.

Yeah, no.

I mean, a lot of people would much rather have a 1988 911 with 217 horsepower.

When you say other people, are you talking about you?

Not necessarily me.

But yes, I would like that.

I've been looking at a lot of these old cars lately

and they have low numbers.

I saw this Ferrari 308 on BAT this week.

Absolutely gorgeous.

But it only has a 2.9 liter V8 with 230 horsepower.

And I wouldn't care.

And it probably, what does it weigh?

They probably weigh like 2,000 and change.

Just tipping the scales there at 25 maybe.

Yeah, I guess it's all relative.

And Barry's a little bit biased because he has a 911 that he electrified.

Yes.

All right.

So anyway, that's the Porsche story.

I still want to talk a little bit about the RS6.

But when we come back from break, we're going to give you our interview with Bentley's CEO

talking about the latest unveiling, the truly driver-focused super sports.

And we'll explain, of course, his connection to Porsche as well.

Bentley CEO Frank Stephan Wallace are up next.

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Welcome back to Hot Pursuit.

I'm Matt Miller with Hannah Elliott.

And Hannah, I got a chance to, I finally got a chance to drive the Audi RS6 Avant.

As you know, I have a history with the brand.

My first car that I ever personally bought was an Audi Avant, the A4 version.

Mine was the 2.5 TDI with only 180 horsepower, by the way,

and still felt fast to me with the five-speed manual.

This thing, though, is an absolute beast.

As you know, you've driven it, right?

I still have it.

I've had it for a week, yes.

And even though I'm actually recording from Las Vegas, the F1 race here,

I still have it.

It's waiting for me at home.

It is.

Oh, yeah.

I've really been enjoying it.

It's a treat.

I mean, I'll tell you what.

I've been pulled over twice in it.

Wait, OK.

So we heard about the first time last week when you were pulled over

because you were running late and you slipped out of those handcuffs.

Yeah.

Now, what happened this time?

So I was cruising through Hartstale in Westchester,

and I came to an intersection where I noticed the light was red.

But there was a parking lot, and I saw that it went out on the other side.

Oh, yeah.

So you pulled one of those moves.

I pulled into the parking lot, kind of looked at the building that was there,

and then pulled out the other side, avoiding the light.

I feel like for everybody, it was more efficient, right?

Sure.

It helps to flow of traffic, really.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking.

But the police officer who was parked right there didn't think so.

Oh, what?

But did you see them parked?

Did you?

You didn't even.

As I was making that move, I saw him sitting there.

And I thought,

what was your actual infraction?

Well, apparently that's illegal, or that's not allowed.

That's what he told me.

Well, what if you were pulling into the parking lot,

and then you changed your mind, and you quickly decided,

I don't need to be in this parking lot?

Well, and that's exactly what I said.

I had my wife with me, and she said, as the guy was pulling me over,

she said, tell him you wanted a bagel.

But I said, no, because I've got a meeting.

Yeah.

And perfectly plausible.

Could be true.

Right?

Maybe that is the case.

So I told him.

I said, listen, I pulled in here because I wanted a bagel.

It was a bagel shop.

And as I pulled in, my wife, who's sitting right here,

told me, no, I have a meeting to get to.

We can't stop.

So I pulled right out again.

How did that go over?

He said, I don't believe you.

But then he handed me back my driver's license

and registration and said, don't do it again.

Oh, gosh.

Those guys are so strict up there.

I have to say, they got a lot of time on their hands.

That's my thing.

This guy was doing nothing but just waiting at the light

for someone to do what I did.

Like, why doesn't he go solve a crime?

Send him to Los Angeles.

He'll have his hand full.

I mean, that is the least of our worries.

Is that really even against the law?

I don't think it can be.

How can you write that law?

Change your mind because you don't want a bagel?

Come on.

Anyway, the car is an absolute beast.

Oh, yeah, back to the car.

It's making, basically, the point is,

it's making you drive like a renegade.

Maybe, but it's weird because it's a big old station wagon.

I mean, it's heavy, right?

It's got to be bordering on 5,000 pounds this car.

I don't know.

I don't have the Moroni with me.

I looked, I think it's like 4,900.

Obviously, amazing power with the twin turbo V8,

and I was in the performance version,

which gets over 600 horsepower and like more than 800 pounds.

About 21, I think.

It's, it's huge, right?

And that's part of the joy.

It's so fast.

Yes.

Even for such a big car, it's easy to place,

place it where you want it.

So it's very precise and...

Zero to 16, 3.3 seconds.

The air suspension is super plush,

but also can stiffen up when you need it to.

Now, I do have some, I have some notes.

I have some notes or just some,

they're not notes, but more thoughts.

For one, you kind of touched on it.

It's a big, it feels to me to be wide and quite long.

You know, this, this car is going to take up all, all of the lane.

Did you sense that when you were driving it?

It's big.

Well, keep in mind that I drive a Dodge Challenger

on the wide body version on a regular basis.

Okay. So did it feel equal to that?

It felt about the same, yes.

And, and, and, but longer,

because it's so long, right?

It's long, it's big.

I mean, on the one hand, that's a lot of storage space.

Yeah, that's what you want it for.

Completely.

And I honestly, and I will get on my soapbox for this,

I really wish more Americans would get out of their SUVs

and get into wagons.

And this goes back to,

because the wagon can do everything that you really

are actually in reality doing the SUV.

I know people want to think that they can get off road

if they need to or get out of snow or whatever,

but the reality is you don't need that big SUV

when a beautiful wagon like an Audi Avant

will more than cover any of the realistic needs that you have.

I mean, obviously, I agree with you 100%.

And I thought about that the whole,

every time I was driving it,

especially pushing hard into a corner,

I was like, ah, so, I'm so glad that this is a low wagon.

And it is pretty low.

It's not at all lifting.

I'm careful.

Yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm going slow, you know,

as I pull into the valet stand at sunset tower,

I am going slow.

Oh, but that, that reminds me of two things

that I have to say that are very positive about this car.

Number one, I don't think I've ever had a dream

about a car before, but when I got this car that night,

I had a dream that I was drifting it.

Cool.

Which I don't, it was just like a snapshot of a dream,

but the dream was literally I was in this RS6 drifting it

and it was really fun.

And I can honestly say,

I don't know if I've ever dreamt about a car before.

So that's, there's something emotional there,

which is very, a very good sign.

You can, you can drift it too.

I'm here to tell you.

Yeah, I, clearly.

I've already been doing it in my dreams.

And then the second thing is,

it got the prime parking spot.

I did go to sunset tower a couple times with it

and it got the prime parking spot at least once of

there's one single parking spot out front,

which is the car that is on display for everybody to see.

And they parked it out front.

And I got a buddy who works in the valet stand named Gustavo

and it wasn't even Gustavo who parked it with someone else.

So that car gets respect, which I really like

and it's emotional.

Now that the thing that I'm not in love with

is the center console screen.

Oh my goodness.

That's what I am in love with.

In fact, when I test drove it

and then my wife, so I think it's fair to say

that you and I are both very tall.

So for us, we don't need the lifted,

like the raised seating height of the SUV.

A lot of people who are more vertically challenged,

my wife's not short, but she said,

look, I like sitting a little bit higher.

You know, so that's why one reason people like SUVs,

but for me, I was like, all right,

well, let me look at a Q7 then or a Q8,

which I love the design of that so much.

And make sure that they still have this center console,

this MMI, because we complain about the lack of buttons

in so many other cars and this car also has no buttons,

like almost no physical buttons.

But it has this haptic response

that makes the, for me at least,

the infotainment system really pleasurable to use.

And I find also the whole system to be really intuitive.

And the bottom screen of the two-screen setup

is almost always HVAC.

So I thought it was great.

Like I would take any car with that setup in it.

I really liked it a lot.

I do agree with you that it is an intuitive setup

and it works very well and very seamlessly.

My quibble is that with that haptic style screen,

you can't just gently touch the screen.

You have to like push it harder.

You know what I mean?

I like that.

Yeah, I know what they're trying to do,

which is like simulate a button.

So you have to actually push it harder.

But then I'm like, why not just have a button?

Because if it's a screen,

I'm just intuitively thinking,

I can just touch it really lightly,

like just brush it and keep going.

And it doesn't actually register that input.

You have to push it harder.

And I find myself like jabbing my finger

to push the button, which isn't a button.

It's a screen.

I imagine like all the cars that we test out

for a few days or for a week,

this is the kind of thing that you would get used to

if you owned it and lived with it on a daily basis.

Either way, you would adapt.

But my only complaint with this car

that I loved so much,

I was automatically configuring them online

and shopping for used ones,

the problem I have is the complexity.

And this is something we talked

to Frank Steffen-Walliser about as well.

Like it's a twin turbo.

It's got the air suspension, rear wheel steering,

you know, the whole electronic system on the inside just,

there are so many things that can go wrong

and can break down.

And repairs, you know, of brands like this

just cost so much money.

I mean, I lightly cracked the headlight

on my Mercedes GLS

and it cost $5,000 to repair it.

So yeah.

And that was just a light crack on the outside glass.

I was like, can we just repair the glass?

They were like, no, no, dude.

We got to order the whole headlight pod

with the computer and the chips and everything.

That's horrible.

But that's the same thing.

If you knock away mirror off the RS6,

it's going to cost you many, many thousands of dollars.

How did you crack that headlight out of curiosity?

I gently bumped it into another car in my driveway.

Oh no.

Oh, God, Matt.

Anyway, this kind of complexity

is something that we talked to Frank Steffen-Walliser

about as well.

And I want to get into the first part

of our interview.

Remind us quickly, Hannah,

why we talked to this guy so much about Porsche.

Well, of course, as our listeners may recall,

Frank Walliser was the head of Porsche Motorsport

and really credited with multiple Le Mans victories,

the 918 Spider development,

and really a guy that has made Porsche racing successful.

And that goes back to our earlier conversation

about Porsche, you know, it's Frank and his team

that really kind of is the beating heart of Porsche.

Porsche has always been a racing brand.

That is the DNA.

And so Frank had a big role in that.

All right, let's listen to what Frank has to tell us.

This Super Sports, the new car,

it's got a Manta racing wheels.

It's got a Krapowicz exhaust system.

Serious car people know these brands

and they might know them from Porsche.

Or Ducati, Krapowicz.

Of course.

Famously switched from Turbignoni to a Krapowicz

because the exhausts were so much better made.

Of course.

You've got the daughter of a very famous Porsche racer,

Mr. Ikazawa, who's now helping shape some of the Bentley messaging.

I'm curious if Bentley Brass get tired of you talking about Porsche

and like it keeps coming up in the conversation

and I'm starting to see almost like a dovetailing between the brands.

Is that even accurate?

No, I think number one, I'm really cautious on comparing the companies

because Bentley has a very rich own history and everything.

It's not about copying it for sure.

Yes.

And this is not so much about my knowledge or my link to it.

It's inside the company and this is what amazed me a lot

when we started that project.

It was really kind of igniting what was there anyway.

And we just kicked off the project and then people came up

with the ideas, with the aero, with the wheels,

with the tire setting, the tire selection

and how to tune the car and then maybe I fueled it

a little bit up and gave some directions.

But it was never to say,

okay, we have to target that car or this car.

It was really an own Bentley interpretation.

It has also showed a lot about self-confidence

and the knowledge inside the company.

And that's, honestly, that's even more fun to do so.

And yes, there's some suppliers out we are using.

They're just amongst the best in the industry.

Why not?

Why going elsewhere?

Go to the professionals.

Go to the best what you can get.

And this is the same for carbon fiber parts.

This is for wheels.

This is for exhaust.

We know what to do.

And we know also what we can do in our factory,

like the seat adjustment to create a new seat in that time.

This looks easy, but this is a safety part, airbags,

everything what comes with that.

And we have the engineering capabilities

and we have the manufacturing capabilities

to really make something in such a short time

that this really is great.

A little bit engineering's paradise, honestly.

You came and essentially flipped a switch

or you ignited something that was already there

that the company already had in it.

And I'm just wondering if you think Bentley had gone

too far towards luxury maybe

or too far towards complications

when simplicity may have been better.

I always, we always talk about the fact

that I really want a turbo R.

I love those and all of the Bentley's

are the last 20 or 30 years.

And fortunately, they're affordable for me

because they're so complicated

and maintenance costs are so high

that other people are avoiding them.

Do you want to kind of turn that around a little bit?

I think simplification is a matter anyway

and that fits also to our luxury proposition

because luxury is normally not complicated.

It's curated and simple and someone makes you the choice

and the choice is thoughtful

and it takes it away from the customer.

And that's part of our luxury proposition.

So it does not, yeah, it contributes to that.

When I started, for sure, I looked carefully

on history and what have been the cars

and you mentioned the turbo R

that was the car that changed a lot

in the Bentley brand perception

and it was the return of the,

or the birth maybe of the power sedan.

And that's the reason for being Bentley

because from that point on, it was outselling the siblings.

And that just shows, yes, the sporty image

and it's not only image, it's also the car delivered.

It's very important for it

and it's part of the Bentley DNA.

400 horsepower in the late 80s.

Yeah, unbelievable.

Think on that tires and brakes.

We maybe went a little bit too much in luxury

and only craftsmanship but it's more.

The rewarding car, the car that makes fun to drive

and it's all built in these cars.

The capabilities are there

and now it's up to emphasize it again

and to give also clear direction to say,

well, if you do the curation, we do the curation.

That means we will have to give up on compromises.

Clear direction for the car, a clear signature.

Very easy to explain car.

And I think that that's maybe the power of the supersports

to explain this car.

I need 10 seconds because I will tell you

it's the lightest ever.

It's rear wheel drive.

It's a nice only car.

That's it.

And the message lens.

And we can see the social media reactions.

It's very clear.

Everybody understands it.

This is good.

We have to make benefit out of that.

And this applies to every car.

There's more to come.

We have different segments.

It looks different for sedan than for an SUV.

And for sure to go on the continental

is the most natural and easy one.

Second is, and I think this is also very important,

the leak and the price point where we are selling cars.

It's about emotions and the brand.

And this is a common understanding.

It's not something we fight inside the company

or we have a we have difficult discussions

within the board and within our management.

We are very clear.

We want to bring more emotions back to the brand.

You made the comment.

We need fans.

This is very important.

And this is a bit of a new focus

that you've brought to Bentley.

Talk a little bit about what you meant

when you said we also need fans.

I think it's for a car brand.

And there's famous examples from names I will not name now

but they have a red car in Italy.

They have definitely more fans than buyers.

But this is a big part of it.

And this is for every luxury brand.

You need to be admired for your joys you made.

If you are the only one that is convinced on a product

that's not part of a luxury story

and you want a show and that other people say

I would like to have such a car

even if it's not my price tag.

But I really like it.

And this is the fans.

But we have also to address to the fans

and not just say no, this is only for customers.

We want to be accessible to show the fans why not sharing

and show our passion and show what's behind.

This is for example why our stand in Goodwood

was open to the public.

Everyone and I think it was 10,000 people

could sit in a Bentley and make a photo.

And a lot went out and said I was never sitting in a Bentley.

It's a lot of butts and seats.

Yeah.

I mean, is it to me when you say

when you mentioned the Italian brand, I think, okay,

did Porsche follow that blueprint

and now Bentley is following the Porsche blueprint?

Can we make that connection

in terms of there are more fans and buyers?

I think Porsche is maybe the masterpiece

of orchestrating the community.

It developed over the years.

I would say it's from the result.

It's definitely there was their master plan.

I don't think so.

It developed and it was adapted.

And a lot of people are very passionate

and brought it in.

And for sure the group is bigger and the whole thing grew.

I think it cannot, there are some cases in the world,

some car manufacturers and this is Ferrari,

this is Porsche.

They cannot be repeated

because you don't have 75 years of history

and everything what was built up over the years,

all the different cars, the stories,

the motorsport, the heritage, the racing,

you cannot copy that.

And it's not about copying it.

It's more about to understand how does our brand work?

What is specific on us?

What is special and unique on us?

And yeah, make this accessible

and then develop an own brand plan

that says, okay, we take this element.

And for sure in today's world,

nearly everything exists.

You will never have something totally unique.

And all the time someone will come,

oh, you copy this, you copy this, you copy this,

it's never new.

Stand in the shoulders of giants.

Yeah, but on the other hand,

it's also combined cleverly and then execute.

The idea of a super sports

have been around for many, many times,

many, many years.

But it's about execution.

It's about do it, make a decision,

take the money.

And for sure it was also risk.

So we invested a little bit of money,

not only a little bit

to make such a car happen.

I can't imagine it being a tough sell

to the board to do this car, but was it?

I was the board.

So with my colleagues, we know, I think

the interesting thing is,

and this is maybe definitely a,

or this is a strength of Bentley

in the configuration we have at the moment

with our management, with the board,

we are really very, very quick aligned

on what direction we go.

And super sports was not a hard sell.

We have all been convinced all

that this is the right way to do it.

And we had to find a way to finance it

and to bring it in and very tough timing.

And yeah, then you have to work on

to make it possible from procurement

to finance, from manufacturing to logistics.

It's a complex car project.

So it has 250 something new parts.

So this is really complex.

And that shows what the organization.

The project, but as you say,

the explanation of the car is not complex.

No, no.

It's high horsepower, you know,

big displacement V8 rear wheel drive.

Everybody looks at that,

even people who can't afford it

and can identify with it right away,

as opposed to something that's super luxurious

and complex and that's only for,

they'll think it's only for CEOs.

And I'm not gonna, I just wonder how hard it is

for an ultra luxury brand like a Bentley or Rolls-Royce

to get the kind of accessibility that Porsche can offer.

Because, you know, there's always a Porsche

that you can go out and buy for 30 or 40,000,

like a 996 or a Boxster, right?

And it's not too...

On the aftermarket.

Yeah.

And it's not too complicated to have your,

the gas station on the corner work on it, right?

Whereas with these two, you know,

British brands especially,

obviously with Ferrari as well,

but there's a different case,

you can't, you're never gonna be able to offer something like that.

You don't want a Maserati yourself, you know?

Ooh.

Will not comment on this.

Yeah, this is why I say you have to tailor it

for your own brand, what you can do.

And on the other hand, if I look at,

especially in the UK,

continental GTs, first generation,

6-liter, W12s, nice cars.

So awesome.

This is affordable.

Yes.

And it comes...

I look at them a lot.

Yeah, and it comes with,

and that's maybe,

that's the power of the Volkswagen Group.

A lot of the paths where you look from a reliability point of view

is, that's the wrong wording,

but I use it as mass production.

So very reliable.

So the engineering what you get on that car is really good.

Yes, spare part prices.

Okay, that's maybe costs a little bit of money,

but that comes with the value price.

But it's something that a regular person can handle.

I would say maybe it can be done.

Yeah, I know what you mean.

Not mass production,

but having a massive brand behind the production

must be helpful.

What about future product?

Like this is our first glimpse of what you can enable Bentley to produce.

What else is there?

We all know the Continental and the Bentayga.

Okay, Eevee, interesting.

But this is the next big thing.

What about something different than those two?

I only think of Continental and the Bentayga.

So what can you...

For sure, we look in the complete range.

We look in our offer what could drive excitement.

Maybe also on the Bentayga side,

what could that look like.

And I think this is important now.

I was asked yesterday,

oh, now you do a super sports Bentayga

and you do a super sports flying spur?

I said, no, no, no, no, no.

Maybe more extreme car of the Bentayga.

Maybe something what is more exciting.

Maybe a coupe or I don't know.

I know, but I don't tell you.

What is the interpretation in a flying spur?

And then you have to make specific decisions to that.

But as you said, in the area of a flying spur,

the flying spur is for me such a perfect car already.

I'm not sure if you could add something similar

than on the super sports there,

because he's already the performance sedan

coming with the luxury of a Bentley.

So it's not, again, it's tailoring.

It's to understand the brand.

It's understand the marketing

and the markets and the customer demands

and then to come out with the ideas.

But for sure, Continental is our core product.

And it's really brand defining.

And there we will have the majority

of our focus on Continental.

And second, as the market is so big on Bentayga.

That's the Bentley CEO, Frank Steffen Walliser.

Coming up after the break,

how AI is redesigning what luxury looks like.

More of our chat right after this.

And I got some buying advice for an air-cooled Porsche.

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Welcome back to Hot Pursuit.

I'm Matt Miller along with Hannah Elliott.

Let's get back to our conversation

with the Bentley CEO, Frank Steffen Walliser,

who also worked at Porsche for a long time

and is famous for that.

And I will tell you quickly, Hannah.

You know, I asked him about my air-cooled Porsche search.

And I'm leaning towards I thought like 964

because it's the end of, for me,

generation of Porsches that all look the same.

I've thought about, you know, an earlier one.

I saw Magnus did a video on the International Race of Champions

in which he's driving a very old one,

far too expensive for me.

But I was like, oh, maybe I could backdate.

Our era, yeah.

Yeah, to get to the 70s.

But, you know, they all have more primitive suspension.

And Frank said it's a rubbish.

He said go with the 993

because they had upgraded to a multi-league suspension in the back.

They had already coilovers from the 964.

And he said everything else is like, he didn't say trash,

but he implied like not even worth driving.

You know what?

I remember when you asked him that

because I was standing there

and I kind of loved how unfussy his answer was

because didn't he make some comment about, oh, you know,

people get into what wheels are you running

and all this stuff.

And he kind of just like was like, shoot it all away.

And he was very unfussy about it.

And I just kind of liked it

because this guy is an engineer mastermind

and he just kind of brushed it all away

and was like, oh yeah, you know,

just get the 993 and drive it.

Yeah, for him, there's no debate.

Like he has thoughts.

He's decided and that's it.

But the funny thing is I was texting Magnus later

and he said that's like my least favorite generation.

I know it is.

It is.

He doesn't like, he really doesn't like it.

I mean, I don't like the way the 993 looks.

The headlights already starting to lay back.

And it looks like every time I see a 993 that's red,

I feel like it resembles the guy from cars.

You know, the red guy from cars.

Oh yeah, totally, totally, totally.

I don't want that.

You know, I want something badass.

I want to step out of it in cowboy boots

with my dreadlocks and big beard.

You know, that's, I want to be the outlaw.

You need something a little more ornery.

I do.

You need something that feels a little rambunctious for sure.

And that's, you know what?

That's kind of like what the supersports is for Bentley

as well.

They're getting a little bit more ornery.

Yeah, let's come on, giddy up.

Let's go.

All right, let's get back to our interview

with Frank Steffen Walliser, the CEO of Bentley.

I want to ask about something I've been thinking about

a lot with these really old historic luxury brands.

And it's the idea of AI and how software

is increasingly becoming a key differentiator

for a lot of buyers in cars, but in luxury cars too.

So how do you implement that in a very old,

historic luxury brand that it's not necessarily

a friendly fit with software?

Yeah, well, the question is now from a little bit

more an engineering perspective,

a car like supersports without software,

no chance to realize it.

Because we are using all the systems that are in from

the roll bar adjustment to the air suspension

to the slip differential to the engine tuning.

This is this is everything based on software.

You can make the driving everything.

I mean, more specifically, like the interface

with the interface and the infotainment.

There is it's really it's a way to find

again the curation to make it to make it simple

in the use.

What's definitely a bigger effort than to make

everything adjustable because you have to make decisions.

It can be also in the luxury segment really helpful

to build up, but you have to invest.

And the real task is just the size of the company

because we are small volume.

And if you are the competition is coming from premium

because there is high volume,

a lot of engineering capacity in and to keep that level.

This is really demanding.

And again, this is benefit as we have resources in the group

we can use and benefit from.

And then we have to find a Bentley way

in an interpretation of a digital user interface

to not just have something what is replaceable.

Do you feel that there will come nice ideas

with our next car that we will present.

I would say it's really very, very good ideas.

People have been very sought to on.

I was thinking, does the Bentley buyer expect Bentley

to be at the forefront of that or not necessarily.

I don't think it's expected to be at the forefront,

but it's expected to be on ice level.

You want to use your car play.

You want to connect your phone.

This has just to work.

Also the driver assistance systems,

they have more and more impact on the driving

and people expect that they work flawless

from prefix sign recognition to

lane keeping.

All these things have to work yet.

No, we don't have to be the first,

but we have to keep the pace.

I look around the other brands

in your stable and the Volkswagen stable

and I think of the successes like the RS6

that I'm driving right now.

By the way, they've done a really good job

of haptic feedback and controlling things

through screens without making it annoying,

but obviously I think a lot of people

would like to go back to buttons for things,

especially like HVAC and volume.

I look at the GT3 with the touring

and I obviously love the tactile manual transmission.

I'm not suggesting that Bentley

has to do something like that,

but can you break away from,

can you give us a shooting break?

This whole conversation was going to come to that question.

The honest truth is when I woke up this morning

and I looked at the supersports,

the front was clearly in view

and the rear end of it was kind of in the distance

and I could imagine that.

You did, dreamed it.

I sort of thought of it

and I also happened to love,

I love everything from the clown shoe to the FF

and I'm in the RS6 right now,

so I think about that, right?

I like to discuss this really in the US.

Here is a wagon, no one buys a wagon.

Why is that?

I don't know, but it's everybody,

all the car enthusiasts, we need it, we need it, we need it.

Once the cars are on the market, nobody buys it.

Well, it's because they just default and buy an SUV.

If SUVs weren't optional, it's an arms race

and you're worried about-

Yeah, but the SUV has won.

And the SUV has won,

but if we remove the SUV option,

then everyone would get wagons and be fine with it.

But SUVs after 140 years of car development,

150 years, we have came up the best body form

and the best body style is SUV.

Well, it's the biggest market.

How about this?

Will you do more of the one-offs

of the high dollar custom projects

that your English competition has been doing,

that your Italian competition has been doing?

It results in big margins and also results in a lot of fans too.

A lot of times if you get the right buyer

or if it's shown in the right place, you know?

The key is, as you say, the right buyer is the right place.

But you need a little bit also technically spoken,

you need a good platform to do so.

If you have a mid-engine carbon fiber hang-on body,

it's very easy because you keep the easy in,

but it's easier because you have a spine

and then you put a new body on it

and then you call it a something.

And there's a demand in the market

because it's unique cars, it's coming from the factory

and it's great stuff and great business.

Would it fit?

Well, number one to Bentley's technical background we have

more is harder to realize and if you do,

it has to be really done properly.

I see for the Bentley ideas and for our offer,

the sweet spot is more in the area of super sports.

So means higher volume, higher price point,

but limited run that could be more exciting for us.

Well, it is pretty darn exciting.

Just from looking at it and reading the numbers.

I have one final question for Frank.

What have you learned in your year at Bentley?

What surprised you?

From souvenir housing to crew.

Yes, because I have to imagine it is, it's different.

Yeah, for sure.

It's not only another company, it's another country,

it's another culture.

I learned a lot I think about the culture.

I had a coach, business coach that helped me on a regular base

and I exchanged my feelings and learnings and everything

and it was good.

It gave me also sometimes directions.

On how to deal with the Brits?

Yeah, but this is not a problem.

And Bentley, no, really not.

And Bentley has a number one, a welcoming culture.

People are really open-minded and integrate people

relatively quick and they know how to deal with the Germans for 25 years.

Well, maybe longer.

They're coming in all the time.

No, no, no, this was the easier part.

For sure you have to learn what can the company do,

what are the capabilities, maybe points where you can improve.

How does the whole system work?

How does sales work?

How does the financial things work?

You learn an overview and you get the right things.

On the other hand, you have to act immediately till you have no time

so you cannot make an analysis and then reflect and then go on.

So we did the whole strategic work was done within eight weeks.

The team was supportive and then we changed the direction.

We looked at the electrification.

We looked at the offer of the hybrids and a lot of learnings for me.

And then we immediately started new projects

immediately.

So after 12 weeks, we started with the next projects and next programs.

So that was really a quick start.

I would say it worked pretty well with the integration.

My colleagues could judge that better.

But no, I think it worked and I also embraced it and liked it.

I liked the complexity in the job to have this overarching responsibility.

I think we have a really, really good team in the board and with our

extended management team together, a very trustful, open-minded,

a good culture in Bentley that is open-minded.

The small team is nimble and agile.

What I like is my raising genes to go through.

Yes.

Stay light on your feet.

Yeah.

I like to add horsepower.

Right.

Add lightness.

I like that formula.

Exactly.

Well, thank you so much for joining us.

It's been a real pleasure.

Please come back before a year from now.

We should do this twice a year.

Good.

Once again, our thanks to Bentley CEO Frank Steffen Walliser.

He is truly an awesome dude.

And by the way, he also had PR with him.

Each of them knew everything about every generation of every Volkswagen vehicle.

So like a really smart team.

They've got a tight operation.

Let me tell you, they run a tight ship over there.

I want to have those guys on as guests.

Like we can't have a PR person on as a guest.

I know.

No, it wouldn't be proper.

But there are a couple of PR people and one of the PR people with Frank who joined,

there are a couple that I want to write a book.

And I know they never would because they're discreet and professional.

But you know that they know so much.

And they have so many interesting stories.

I'd love to read that book.

Yeah.

They know where the bodies are buried and they have such deep knowledge.

I know.

So very cool to have them here in studio.

Yeah.

That does it for this week's show.

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Bentley Unveils New Supersports, Matt Gets Pulled Over... Again

About this episode

Bentley Super Sport

Audi Rs6

Porsche Cayenne

EVs

Porsche Macan

electric vehicle (EV)

Porsche 911 GT3 RS

BMW X5

BYD

horsepower

Porsche Taycan

Porsche 911

Ferrari 308

2.9 liter V8

Audi A4

five-speed manual

air suspension

Dodge Challenger

Audi Avant

MMI

rear wheel steering

Porsche 918 Spyder

Opel Manta

Akrapovič

carbon fiber parts

exhaust

car project

big displacement V8

rear wheel drive

Porsche Boxster

Maserati

Bentley Continental Gts

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