Bentley has announced record financial results for 2021, with the manufacturer also delivering its most cars annually last year.
The British luxury brand, based in Crewe, saw its operating profit rise to £328.4m in 2021 – a 1,843 per cent increase on the £16.9m profit it recorded in a pandemic-struck 2020. The figure is also more than double its previous highest annual profit, which was set in 2014 with £143.4m.
Bentley turned over £2.4bn last year, with its revenue on each car increasing by eight per cent compared with 2020 – the firm put this down to an ‘increased level of personalisation and a model mix dominated by its Speed, Mulliner and Hybrid models’.
The introduction of new hybrid models helped to secure Bentley’s record results. (Bentley)
During 2021, 14,659 Bentleys were delivered – a 31 per cent increase on 2020, which was still a record year for sales for the firm. It said there was a ‘steady increase in customer interest’ in its new models towards the end of 2021, which led to ‘an order bank at record levels at the start of 2022’.
Bentley hasn’t been as badly affected by the global semiconductor shortage as have other manufacturers, with its parent company Volkswagen Group redirecting these parts to Crewe to fit to its more profitable cars.
Adrian Hallmark, chairman and CEO of Bentley Motors, said: “These results were achieved against a continued backdrop of economic uncertainty. They represent a major achievement for everybody involved at Bentley Motors as we push forward with our Beyond100 programme to reinvent our entire product range in the build-up to carbon neutrality by 2030.”
Earlier this year, Bentley announced it would look to become an electric-only firm by the end of the decade, with five EVs set to be launched between 2025 and 2030. This comes as part of a £2.5bn ‘sustainable investment’ at its Crewe facility to gear up for this significant change.
By 2024, Bentley aims to offer a hybrid derivative of all its models, while in 2026 it will only be selling hybrid or electric cars. This comes as part of its ‘Beyond100’ strategy, which was first announced in 2020 in the brand’s centenary year.
YesAuto/PA media
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