Bentley breaks yearly profits record within first half of 2022

Bentley has broken its overall annual profit record within the first six months of 2022, despite having almost closed its factory three times. It posted profits of €398 million (£333.5m) – €9m (£7.7m) more than the record of €389m (£325.8m) set in 2021. A spokesperson for Bentley told Autocar: “We’ve almost had to shut the factory three times due to possible parts shortages, either caused by Ukraine [restricting the supply of wiring looms] or [the shortage of] semiconductors.” He added that production of wiring looms never stopped thanks to “those brave people” and that Bentley was a priority for semiconductor supply within the Volkswagen Group, meaning the brand is currently producing cars at its “highest rate ever". The Bentley Bentayga was its biggest seller, claiming 40% of sales (2960), followed by the Bentley Continental GT (33%; 2441) and the Bentley Flying Spur (27%; 1997). According to the spokesperson, the Bentley Bentayga Hybrid accounted for around one in four sales of the model. Bentley CEO Adrian Hallmark attributed the success to the brand’s Mulliner personalisation programme, which experienced a “significant increase in demand and capitalisation”. This meant the firm’s revenue per car for the first half of 2022 increased by €27,000 (£22,625) compared with 2021 – from €186,000 (£155,863) to €213,000 (£178,489). Bentley sold 7398 cars in the first half of 2022, with 2068 going to customers in the US, the brand’s biggest market so far this year. Sales in Europe were up 33% compared with the same point in 2021, to 1524, and up 44% in the UK, to 795. However, Bentley’s foothold in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau fell by 25%, to 1621. The firm attributed the fall to extended Covid-19 lockdowns in the region. Nonetheless, the global sales figure of 7398 is 3% greater than the 7199 recorded at the same point in 2021. Hallmark said: “Despite the continued global economic instability, it is promising to see Bentley is showing financial consistency as we reinvent the company in line with our Beyond100 strategy and form a basis to withstand further external shocks.” Jan-Henrik Lafrentz, member of the board for finance and IT at Bentley, added: “These results reflect a strong base pricing position, increased revenue through optionality and favourable foreign exchange rates.” The spokesperson said: “We’re not going to make any predictions apart from to say that it’s got to be another record.” Bentley’s success mirrors that within the collective Volkswagen Group, which posted an overall profit increase of 16.1% to €13.1 billion (£10.9bn) compared with the first half of 2021. Unlike Bentley, sibling brands Audi, Seat, Skoda and Volkswagen experienced a fall in overall sales. Their electric models did not suffer the same slump, though: group EV sales grew 40% year on year in Europe, and 27% globally. Such results show promise for Bentley’s Beyond100 plan, which involves the launch of five EV models from 2025 and the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2030.