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LUXURY British car manufacturer Bentley is celebrating the build of its 200,000th luxury vehicle since its first production vehicle in 1919. Yes, this 100 plus year-old British car manufacturer has had 200,000 customers, many of them repeat customers over its many years in business.
Just a side note – Bentley was bought over by the Volkswagen Group in 1998 for almost US$790 million (RM3.277 billion). After that, VW spent US$845 million to modernise the Crewe factory. Its business has been growing since the VW take over and its production remains in Crewe, England.
It must be admired that 75% of the 101 years of making luxury vehicles was hand-built at its Crewe factory.
The landmark vehicle (number 200,000) happens to be a Bentayga Hybrid which comes at a time when the Bentley brand is making a strong shift to electrification across its range. This landmark Bentley belongs to a customer in China where Bentley has had continues growth and probably has the best customer base in the world right now. Sales in China rose by almost 50% in 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic year, and delivered a record 11,206 vehicles. Sales in America rose some 2%.
To mark the occasion, the oldest Bentley in existence, the EXP 2, stood proudly alongside the 200,000th car, with Bentley’s longest-serving colleagues witnessing the moment. The on-going success of the best-selling Continental GT Grand Tourer and Bentayga SUV was also key to this historic achievement.
Current daily production at its Crewe facility is 85 cars which equal the monthly production numbers from two decades ago.
The success of the Continental GT has been mirrored by the Bentayga, offering a true Bentley driving experience and unparalleled luxury. Launched in 2015, when it established the luxury SUV sector, the fastest SUV in the world has reached its 25,000-production landmark. It is expected that the Bentayga could surpass total sales of the Continental GT within a decade and become the biggest selling Bentley model in history.
Since 2005, the company has also built 40,000 examples of the Flying Spur, the most successful luxury sports saloon in the world.
Bentley Motors aims to be end-to-end carbon neutral by 2030, with the Crewe factory climate positive thereafter.
Bentley will move to full electrification, which is Plug-In Hybrid and Battery Electric power only by 2026, then switch the entire model range to battery electric vehicles by 2030. The industry-leading Beyond100 Strategy will transform every aspect of the business as Bentley accelerates into its second century of luxury car production. These ambitious plans, targeting sustainable luxury mobility leadership, were revealed last year in Bentley’s ground-breaking Beyond100 strategy. – The Vibes, March 29, 2021
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