Bentley Motors recorded the best year in its 88-year history with production reaching 10,087 cars and global sales estimated to exceed 9,200. This success is led by the impressive first full-year sales of the Continental Flying Spur, expected to exceed 4,500 deliveries worldwide. This is reinforced by the unprecedented launch of two convertibles in a single year – the Continental GTC and the Azure – each of which is recognised as a leading car in its class.
The North American market bolstered this success with anticipated sales of over 4,000 cars across the U.S., Canada and Mexico, representing over 40 per cent of Bentley’s global sales, and an increase of almost 10 per cent, year-on-year.
“After an intense period of new product activity and rapid growth in production and sales, we are now approaching our planned production level,” said Stuart McCullough, Member of the Board, Sales and Marketing.
December 2006 also saw the end of the temporary final assembly of a limited number of Continental Flying Spurs at Dresden in Germany.
“Dresden played an important role in helping us grow capacity to meet the tremendous initial order volumes for the Continental Flying Spur. However, our operations have now developed to the point where we can ensure that all future Bentley production will be carried out inour Crewe facility in the UK,” said Mr. McCullough.
High demand for the new Continental GTC convertible is expected to continue through 2007, supplementing the success of the Continental GT and Flying Spur models. The new Bentley Azure convertible and substantially revised Arnage range will also continue to target buyers in the high-end luxury sector.