'Deeply impressed': China keeps this car company boss up at night, but there is something YangWang and others can't match

China's move into upmarket luxury carmaking is the stuff of nightmares, admits Bentley CEO, Frank-Steffan Walliser.

"If someone could keep me up at night, it would be this, but luckily I sleep", joked the former Porsche chief engineer, who now holds the reins as CEO and chairman at the British luxury car-maker.

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"I'm deeply impressed by what the Chinese automotive industry is delivering. But is this a luxury product?" Walliser shakes his head.

"From a technical point of view, and technology point of view [they can] be very advanced but in today's world horsepower is easy, the brand is difficult."

Citing the Apple watch versus a Swiss timepiece example Walliser says just because a brand charges a high price, that doesn't equate to it being a covetable, luxurious item.

"This is why the brand is so important and our heritage behind it. And the luxury product, by definition, can only come from the centre of Europe. From either northern Italy, Switzerland, France, south of Germany, or the UK. There is no other luxury brand in the world.

"Look at Lexus. It delivers outstanding technology, but is only really established in the US and Japan.

"A good product is not enough. We will not be successful by just building better cars. You also have to build a better brand."

Walliser says Bentley remains unlike any of its rivals as it can offer high-end luxury cars and credible 'real' sporty cars, like the latest GT Continental Supersports, that entire 500-car production run sold out in less than two weeks after it was announced.

Even with the introduction of its most advanced car yet, the still-to-be-named Urban SUV that will come with an all-electric power, Walliser says the brand won't stray from its core values.

"[The new EV] will be made in a completely new factory, using a different method and be very, very advanced and modern but the hands-on approach to building it and the levels of craftsmanship – we did not take it away, so you will still see leather, you will still see wood and hand stitching. This will all stay."

Helping him sleep deeply, Walliser also predicts China's huge technological lead over Europe will also be short-lived and as the technological arms race becomes equal, buyers of luxury cars like Bentley will begin to appreciate the power of a good brand even more.