He brings a wealth of sportscar, luxury, and motorsport knowledge from his career at Porsche.
Key Takeaways
- Frank-Steffen Walliser departs Porsche to become the new Bentley CEO on July 1st.
- Walliser’s impressive Porsche resume, including work on the 918 Spyder, positions him well to lead Bentley into the future.
- Bentley currently plans to introduce an advanced hybrid V8 system in future models.
Bentley has a new CEO, and depending on your Porsche history, he may be a familiar face. Frank-Steffen Walliser will take over as Chairman and CEO of the company starting July 1st bringing decades of expertise in sportscar and supercar development. He inherits the position from Adrian Hallmark, who announced his departure from the company for Aston Martin in March.
“I am approaching this job with great respect and looking forward to having a team in Crewe that has shown impressive performance over the last few years. The continuing transformation of the automotive industry will be a major task for Bentley as well, a task that I am happy to take on with the team. I am convinced Bentley will continue to set standards in the luxury segment in the future.” – Frank-Steffen Walliser
Who Is He?
Dr.Walliser’s background started with studying mechanical engineering with a focus on combustion engines and technology management before joining Porsche as an intern in 1995 while continuing towards his doctorate. In the mid-2000s, he soon found himself in charge of motorsport strategies, and helped successfully lead the Porsche RS Spyder campaign in the American Le Mans series.
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Soon after, he was pegged to start work on the brand’s next-generation halo-car: the 918 Spyder. After these successes, he furthered his career by taking up the helm of Porsche Motorsports for worldwide GT motorsports and GT production cars. Finally, in 2019, he took a leading role in overseeing the 911 and 718 models. This is about as comprehensive a resume as one can get, and perfectly poises him to take over Bentley during this transitional time.
What’s In Store For Bentley
It’s fitting Bentley would see a changing of the guard at a time when the company is seeing massive changes to itself as it transitions away from the iconic W12 and non-hybridized V8 models that have raised the brand’s cache during the 21st century. As with many luxury brands, the plan is to hybridize future models instead of diving all in on electricity, and the advanced hybrid V8 system the brand has devised seems to be the perfect solution to a performance-oriented green future.
Related
TEASER: New Bentley Continental GT Coming In June With 771 Horsepower
Here’s your first official look at the fourth-generation Bentley Continental GT, which will be powered by an electrified V8.
The Bentley Batur Convertible is the swansong for the W12, and it opens the doors to the next generation hybrid Continental GT that will debut next month. Having created one of the greatest hybrid sports cars of all time, Dr. Walliser would appear to be the perfect candidate to take Bentley into the future without stripping the brand of its soul.
#Genius #Porsche #Spyder #Bentley
