Bentley has commenced operations at its new state-of-the-art Paint Shop at its Crewe headquarters, marking another milestone in the company’s manufacturing transformation strategy. The launch was celebrated with the completion of a one-of-one Continental GT S featuring a new Spectraflair paint finish, made possible by the advanced capabilities of the facility.
Spanning 12,500 sq. m., the Paint Shop is now responsible for painting the Continental GT, Continental GTC and Flying Spur models, with Bentley’s first all-electric vehicle set to join production later this year. Designed to support future bespoke paint processes, the facility reinforces Bentley’s commitment to digital manufacturing, craftsmanship and personalization.
Commenting on the start of the new Paint Shop’s operations, Andreas Lehe, Bentley’s Board Member for Manufacturing, said:
“Today marks one of the most significant milestones in our Dream Factory journey, and one of the proudest moments for me since I joined Bentley in 2023. The new Paint Shop is a testament to the skill and commitment of everyone involved in its development, construction and integration into the company’s overall manufacturing operations.”
“For decades to come, this Paint Shop will help to solidify our position as leaders in paint quality and be a core strategic enabler of Bentley’s capability to build on our recent developments in paint offerings – such as new Ombré and satin finishes – to develop truly bespoke, world-class finishes across our diverse product range.”
Inside the facility, operations are spread across two floors that have been meticulously designed to optimise every aspect of the production process and create the perfect conditions for both manually intensive and automated application work.
Sophisticated energy and thermal management technologies are installed to ensure comfortable, cooler working conditions on the ground floor, where the handcraftsmanship of Bentley’s highly skilled paint team is required most, whilst simultaneously capturing warmer air generated from the high-tech paint application systems on the first floor and recovering its energy to redistribute across the facility, meaning the new Paint Shop does not require any heating for two-thirds of the year.
Alongside its improved energy efficiency, the introduction of a water-based paint primer replaces the previous solvent-based solution. At the same time, the improved accuracy of paint application, a reduction in masking materials and a filtration monitoring system means the new Paint Shop will see an overall reduction in waste materials of up to 45 per cent compared to the previous facility.
A Residual Thermal Oxidiser (RTO) directs fumes from the paint process to be burned at 1000°C to purify the air expelled from the new Paint Shop to protect the local environment and reduce VOC emissions attributed to Bentley’s long-term paint operations by up to 98 per cent.
Seamlessly connecting the new Paint Shop’s production stages together is a fleet of ten Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs), programmed to move bodies from one workstation to the next in the most efficient and secure manner possible – the first automotive Paint Shop in the world to introduce self-propelled carriers, enabling a completely flexible control of stations across to support highly-bespoke customer paint desires.
This same AGV technology is also being integrated into the ongoing transformation of A1, the oldest building on-site, Bentley’s assembly facility for its Battery Electric Vehicles, which will lead to more accurate monitoring of cars and improved ergonomics for Bentley’s colleagues throughout the end-to-end production processes.
On the building’s exterior, 45 sets of display panels have been finished in a variety of colours from Bentley’s customer paint palette offering. Each panel has been individually painted by the paint team using the same techniques that they carefully apply to every single Bentley car that leaves the factory.
One-of-a-kind Continental GT S marks a new era of paint possibilities
To celebrate the start of operations, a one-of-one Contintental GT S has been crafted, featuring an all-new ‘Spectraflair’ paint finish that was applied to the car’s body in the new Paint Shop. This new paint, which has been designed and developed by Bentley’s artisans in Crewe, is an innovative iteration on Bentley’s existing ‘Verdant’ colour, culminating in a new ‘Spectral Verdant’ paint finish, that features a stunning spectrum of colours that sparkle through the Verdant colour under natural lighting.
This new finish is available to customers through the ‘By Mulliner’ extended paint range. The unique Continental GT S also features a Union Flag racing stripe in Ghost White Pearlescent, hand-sprayed to the car over several days using bespoke paint application techniques – a true showpiece of how Bentley blends craftsmanship and innovation to deliver its extraordinary cars for customers all over the world.
