Bentley is not going to increase annual production, says CEO Adrian Hallmark. Instead of increasing sales of around 10,000 cars per year, Bentley wants to increase profit per car.
Compared to a few years ago, the Bentley range has grown considerably. The exclusive car brand, for example, introduced a hybrid variant of the Bentayga two years ago. There is also a fully electric Bentley in the pipeline. Still, according to Hallmark, the range of models does not mean that production will increase. “We are not aiming for 15,000 or even 13,000 cars a year,” the Bentley foreman said Autocar. Bentley will focus on increasing the profit margin per car. On the Continental GT, still the brand’s best-selling car, this margin is currently 22 percent. Since 2007, Bentley’s production has been around 10,000 cars per year. The 40,000th Flying Spur rolled off the production line recently.
Bentley’s Mulliner program plays an important role in increasing the profit margin. Customers can, of course, have their car put together according to their own taste, for a substantial additional charge. It is precisely on these exclusive options that a lot of profit can be made. In the Netherlands, 78 new Bentleys were registered last year. Here too, the Continental still makes up the lion’s share of sales, because of the Bentayga only twelve copies left the showroom in 2019. Interestingly enough, Bentley managed to sell fourteen units of the SUV this year, despite the outbreak of the corona virus. Inquiries with the importer show that 90% of the Bentleys sold in the Netherlands have options from Mulliner, including the ‘Mulliner Driving Specification’ or ‘Welcome Lights’. 5% of the cars contain special requests that are not on the options list, the so-called ‘Mulliner special requests’.