Bentley sells record 11,206 units in 2020 despite pandemic; nine models to be introduced this year
Bentley has announced that it has sold 11,206 vehicles in 2020, an all-time sales record which it attained last year despite the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting production shutdowns. Even though its sales forecast for 2020 was much greater than before the onset of the pandemic, the British marque has sold more units than ever before in its 101-year history, it said.
This surpassed its previous record sales year in 2017, when it sold 11,089 vehicles. The luxury automaker shut down its production for seven weeks beginning in March and proceeded to operate at 50% of its output for a further nine weeks as social distancing measures were introduced, it said. Bentley’s largest market continues to be the Americas, followed closely by China which saw a 48% gain in 2020.
China emerged as Bentley’s market of largest growth with a sales increase to 2,880 cars from 1,940 cars, buoyed by the introduction of the Flying Spur in that market. The Americas saw the delivery of 3,035 cars, an increase of 4% from the 2,913 units sold in that market in 2019. This too was aided by the Flying Spur, as well as a full year of sales for the Continental GT coupe and Continental GT Convertible.
Closer to its home, Bentley delivered 2,193 vehicles in Europe in 2020 compared to 2,670 units in 2019, a decrease of 18% due to market entry delays sustained by the Bentayga facelift. At home in the United Kingdom, Bentley sold 1,160 vehicles, a 22% decrease from 2019.
Further afield, Bentley sold 735 vehicles in the Middle East last year, compared to 852 sold in 2019. By contrast, he Asia Pacific region posted an increase of 6% to 1,203 vehicles delivered last year, up from 1,139 vehicles sold in 2019.
The Continental GT coupe and Continental GT Convertible contributed 24% and 15% respectively to Bentley’s volume in 2020, together forming the marque’s best-selling model line. The Bentayga SUV however continues to be the best-selling single model in the Bentley line-up, comprising 37% of total sales last year.
“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,” said Bentley chairman and CEO Adrian Hallmark.
The company remains ‘cautiously optimistic’ as much of the future remains uncertain, Hallmark continued, and the just-launched Bentayga Hybrid facelift marks the first of nine models that the Crewe outfit will debut this year, as part of its Beyond 100 strategic path towards becoming a fully electrified car company by 2030.
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