In the words of Frank Sinatra, it was a very good year for Bentley. Well, he wasn't singing about Bentley specifically, but the song fits because the British brand has reported that it sold 14,659 models in 2021 - an incredible advance of 13.7 per cent over the previous year. And despite the pandemic, 2020 was its previous best achievement, with 11,206 units leaving the factory's doors at Crewe. It also maintains its unblemished history of year-on-year sales increases since 2012, when the company delivered 8,510 new cars.
Even better news is that the firm is also generating significant cash from its sales. In 2020, Bentley's operating profit was a 'mere' €20 million, but last year that rose exponentially to hit €389 million on a turnover of €2,845 million - both figures are its highest to date. Contributing to these increases are greater levels customer personalisation and more profitable offerings, such as its Speed, Mulliner and hybrid models, which added eight per cent to the average revenue per car compared with 2020. Bentley also says its order book for 2022 is bursting at the seams like never before.
In a statement, it claims this is 'vindication of customer appreciation of the freshest model line-up in the luxury segment and of Bentley's ground-breaking Beyond100 strategy.' This is its 'Five in Five' philosophy of launching a new electric model every year until 2025, and eventually, end-to-end carbon neutrality by 2030 and an all-electric range. This strategy is reinforced by its ten-year investment programme in the plant at Crewe, which will total €3 billion and represents the biggest investment in Bentley's history.
Adrian Hallmark, Chairman and CEO of Bentley Motors, said of the firm's latest set of financials and its future plans, "These results were achieved against a continued backdrop of economic uncertainty. They represent a major achievement for everybody involved at Bentley Motors, as we push forward with our Beyond100 programme to reinvent our entire product range in the build-up to carbon neutrality by 2030."
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