Against All Odds, Bentley Posted Record Sales In 2020

2020 wasn’t the best of years, to say the least - for many, it was a tough challenge and hopefully, 2021 will be much better. It’s safe to say many of the companies in the automotive industry struggled to maintain a solid pace and some - like Chevrolet with its Camaro sports car - even failed to meet the expectations. Apparently, nothing of this holds true for Bentley.

The Crewe-based exotic car manufacturer is happy to report it had a record year in 2020 despite the coronavirus pandemic and Brexit. The brand delivered 11,206 cars to its customers, which represents an increase of two percent compared to the previous year. The 2020 sales number represents the highest sales performance in any of the luxury British marque’s 101 years.

“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,” Adrian Hallmark, CEO of Bentley, commented.

If we take a closer look at Bentley’s situation in 2020, the result is truly impressive. During the first global lockdown, production at the company was shutdown for seven weeks beginning in March. For the next nine weeks, the manufacturing outputs were reduced by 50 percent. The introduction of a number of refreshed products - including a facelifted Bentayga range - is seen by Bentley as the main contributor to the success.

Unsurprisingly, the luxury SUV was the automaker’s best-selling model in 2020 accounting for 37 percent of the total sales. It was followed by the Continental GT (24 percent) and GT Convertible (15 percent).

“As we look to the year ahead we remain cautiously optimistic as much remains uncertain,” Hallmark added. “One thing that doesn’t is our commitment to progress, the first step of which is the launch of the Bentayga Hybrid.”