Bentley’s 2022 is truly one for the books.
The British marque profits soared 82 percent last year to reach a record US$754 million/HK5.9 billion (€708 million), according to a statement shared Thursday. For context, that’s nearly double the previous best of US$409 million/HK$3.2 billion (€389 million) that Bentley posted in 2021.
Although production only increased 4 percent year over year, the folks at Crewe turned over US$3.6 billion/HK$28.25 billion (€3.4 billion), which marks a 19 percent rise on the $3 billion/HK$23.54 billion (€2.8 billion) of revenue achieved in 2021.
On top of that, Bentley delivered more than 15,000 cars for the first time in its 104-year history. A total of 15,174 vehicles rolled off the assembly line, with much juicier margins on models such as the Bentayga. Indeed, the return on sales climbed to a new high of 20.9 percent in 2022. The automaker says the significant increase was due to collectors opting for higher-spec variants, limited editions, and coachbuilt rides.
“Since the low point of 2018, the whole team at Crewe has been working intensively to restructure the business model, in parallel with launching successive segment-leading new models and features,” chairman and chief executive Adrian Hallmark said in a statement.
The Bentayga SUV remained the most popular model, accounting for 42 percent of sales in its sixth year since launch. The Flying Spur was responsible for 28 percent, while the Continental GT and Convertible models made up the final 30 percent. (The latter models have previously earned Robb Report’s Car of the Year designation.)
“An almost one billion euro (£880m/HK$8.5 billion) profit turnaround has been achieved since 2018, despite an unprecedented period of disruptions and crises including Brexit, Covid, semiconductor supply, Ukraine, and UK economic instability,” Hallmark adds.
Photo by Robb Rice.
After such a fruitful year, Bentley is certainly well placed to execute the US$3.2 billion (€3 billion/HK$25 billion) Beyond100 strategy of reinventing the entire range to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. The firm recently announced that it would stop producing its W-12 engine in 2024 and has introduced a plug-in hybrid range. The marque’s first EV isn’t expected until 2025, though.
As for this year, Hallmark is cautiously optimistic. He says 2023 is showing “strong potential” but acknowledges the market is becoming increasingly volatile.
