The inexorable rise of Bentley continues. 2022 was another record-breaking sales year for the marque, pushing over 15,000 annual sales for the first time in its history. The actual total was 15,174 cars delivered. That represents a four per cent rise over the previous year.
Those sales were driven by increased demand in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India and the Asia Pacific region, and comes despite a drop in sales in China and Hong Kong. As with last year’s figures, the company cites its Mulliner personalisation programme, increasing interest in its hybrid models, and the ever-expanding demand for SUVs as the main drivers of its success. The Bentayga was easily its best-selling model, accounting for 42 per cent of the volume, and with a strong order book for the recently launched Bentayga EWB, that number looks set to increase.
The good news if you’re not an SUV fan, and that means most of the PH fraternity, is that the Continental GT and Convertible remain popular, providing 30 per cent of the company’s sales. The GT Speed made up a third of the Continental’s model mix, and it was a similar story for the Flying Spur Hybrid, which accounted for a third of that range’s volumes globally. In the UK, however, the hybrid was even more popular, with two-thirds of Flying Spurs bought having the plug-in option. The Flying Spur range as a whole delivered 28 per cent of the overall sales numbers.
Adrian Hallmark, Chairman and CEO of Bentley Motors, said, “In what was another year of unpredictability, the business overcame significant headwinds and demonstrated great resilience to deliver the third consecutive record sales year. This underlines our brand strength, operational excellence and strong global demand by market and model.”
