7:29 am, January 6, 2021
Bentley finished 2020 by recording its best sales in its 101-year history.
The British marque notched up 11,206 sales last year, despite the coronavirus pandemic forcing it to shut its factory doors for seven weeks.
The record was fuelled by the launch of the Flying Spur and updated Bentayga, and strong demand in key markets.
America continued to be Bentley’s strongest audience, followed by China which posted an increase in sales of 48 per cent.
Some 3,035 cars were delivered to the USA, with 2,880 posted to China, while ales in the UK totalled 1,160 – or 10 per cent of total sales.
Adrian Hallmark, chairman and CEO of Bentley Motors, said: ‘Even though we anticipated greater sales before the pandemic struck, when you consider the level of restrictions around the world for the majority of the year, to achieve a record sales performance is a strong measure of our potential.
‘As we look to the year ahead we remain cautiously optimistic as much remains uncertain. One thing that doesn’t is our commitment to progress, the first step of which is the launch of the Bentayga Hybrid.
‘This is one of nine new models we will launch this year as we continue on our Beyond100 strategic path and our accelerated journey towards becoming a fully electrified car company by 2030.’
The new Flying Spur was introduced in 2020 and the initial W12-powered version was joined by a V8 variant later on in the year.
Bentley’s core Continental GT and GT Convertible models continued to prove popular, accounting for 39 per cent of total sales. It ended the year as Bentley’s top-performing model line.
However, the firm’s Bentayga SUV was the biggest selling single model, accounting for 37 per cent of Bentley’s total sales.
Bentley to abandon the internal combustion engine and switch to electric by 2026
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