How Bentley salvaged the Felicity Ace disaster

In Crewe, Bentley CEO Adrian Hallmark and his international team speedily bought to do the job, even as the Felicity Ace continue to burned, Rocco claimed. Bentley marketed 4,212 cars in the Americas in 2021, so 189 represented a major chunk of the brand’s business enterprise.

“Based mostly on the need scenario in other sections of the entire world, we were able to promptly get output slots,” Rocco said. Bentley’s worldwide regional directors rapidly crafted a alternative scheme for the brand’s most significant industry. And world situations elsewhere helped a strategy appear jointly.

“China stepped up and explained, ‘We’re observing considerably less demand from customers we can support you with some cars.’ ” Rocco explained. Just after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Bentley stopped imports of vehicles and elements into Russia. “Individuals order slots opened up. So we had been in a position to respond and pivot pretty swiftly,” he stated.

The Felicity Ace burned for days as rescue vessels and tugboats poured drinking water on the abandoned hulk. On Feb. 25, with the fire finally extinguished, the initially salvage crews went aboard in hopes of securing the vessel and finding it towed to a risk-free harbor.

4 times afterwards, at about 9 a.m. area time March 1, the Felicity Ace, which was heavily listing to starboard whilst under tow, sank in rough waters about 230 miles south of the Azores. It is considered to relaxation some 2 miles down below the surface the closing disposition of its cargo — irrespective of whether it stayed in just the ship or scattered across the seafloor — remains unidentified.

Hallmark was unavailable to be interviewed for this article. Nevertheless, by March 17, he informed Automotive Information that the brand already experienced a plan to exchange the bulk of the sunken Bentaygas, Continentals, Flying Spurs and Mulliner-built coaches in just six months. “We’ve promised individuals shoppers, and we’re performing some intelligent points with sellers to hold [those customers] cell, which I won’t discuss about,” Hallmark reported then.