Bentley strengthened its position as the world’s most sought after luxury car brand after announcing 2014 as the company’s record breaking year. 11,020 cars were delivered, a 9% growth on the 2013 figure of 10,120 cars.
The key regions of the Americas, China, Europe including the UK, and Middle East, all saw strong performance, with the Americas retaining its position as Bentley’s number one market, while China closes the gap as the second largest customer region.
Growing appeal of the brand, with the launch of new models drove this success. The Continental GT V8 S and GT Speed coupe and convertible and Flying Spur V8 all entered the market in 2014.
Commenting on the results, Bentley’s Chairman and CEO, Wolfgang Dürheimer, said:
“2014 marked an exceptional year for Bentley, as our record breaking pattern continued. We delivered more cars than ever before, and we now operate in more markets than at any point in our 96 year history, a perfect example of our truly international appeal.
“And this as we embark on a milestone year for the company, in which we are working to deliver the world’s first luxury SUV, and set our sights beyond this and to the future to try and maintain this significant period of success.”
Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, said:
“Bentley is an iconic British Brand that successfully exports around the world. Their recent decisions to invest heavily on new site developments and create close to 1,000 jobs is fantastic news for Britain, and for Crewe where their cars are manufactured.
“I want Britain to be a country where companies want to invest, create high skilled jobs, and export, and so I am delighted that Bentley has had such a successful year on all these fronts.”
Bentley’s number one market throughout 2014 was the Americas, closing the year delivering 3,186 cars, up from the 2013 number of 3,140. This accounted for 29% of total global deliveries.
China remained the second biggest Bentley market, with 2,670 cars delivered in total over the year, against the previous year of 2,191 cars.
In Europe, deliveries were up by 4%, with 1,539 cars delivered to customers. Bentley’s home market, the UK, continued to perform strongly, delivering 1,387 cars, up from 1,381 cars in 2013. Overall, this means that 87% of Bentley’s cars exported from England to customers around the world.
Bentley’s growing presence in the Middle East and Asia Pacific resulted in deliveries hitting a record high in both markets.
Performance was strengthened in the Middle East by Bentley’s flagship model, the Mulsanne, with total deliveries increasing by 7%, 1,263 cars, on 2013’s figure of 1,185 cars.
In Asia Pacific, deliveries rose by 48% on the previous year, with 669 cars delivered in 2014, against 452 cars in 2013, driven by success of the two-door Continental GT model line. Finally, Japan saw growth of 5%, delivering 306 cars against a total of 291 cars in 2013.
BENTLEY Continental GT Speed – fuel consumption in l/100 km: urban 22.4 / extra urban 9.9 / combined 14.5; CO2 emissions combined in g/km: 338; efficiency class: G
BENTLEY Continental GT Speed Convertible – fuel consumption in l/100 km: urban 22.8 / extra urban 10.3 / combined 14.9; CO2 emissions combined in g/km: 347; efficiency class: G
BENTLEY Continental GT V8 S Coupé – fuel consumption in l/100 km: urban 15.7 / extra urban 7.8 / combined 10.7; CO2 emissions combined in g/km: 250; efficiency class: D
BENTLEY Continental GT V8 S Convertible – fuel consumption in l/100 km: urban 16.1 / extra urban 8.1 / combined 11.1; CO2 emissions combined in g/km: 258; efficiency class: D
BENTLEY Mulsanne – fuel consumption in l/100 km: urban 25.3 / extra urban 11.8 / combined 16.9; CO2 emissions combined in g/km: 393; efficiency class: G