Kelly Serfoss
Bentley’s 2022 is truly one for the books.
The British brand’s profits rose 82 percent last year to a record $754 million, according to a statement shared on Thursday. For comparison, that’s almost double Bentley’s previous record of $409 million in 2021.
Although production increased just 4 percent year-on-year, Crewe employees made $3.6 billion, up 19 percent from $3 billion (2.8 billion euros) in sales in 2021.
In addition, Bentley delivered more than 15,000 cars for the first time in its 104-year history. A total of 15,174 vehicles rolled off the assembly line, with far juicier margins on models like the Bentayga. In fact, the return on sales climbed to a new high of 20.9 percent in 2022. The automaker says the sharp increase is due to collectors opting for higher-end variants, limited editions and carriage vehicles.
Mark Fagelson
“Since the bottom point in 2018, the entire Crewe team has worked intensively to transform the business model, in parallel with the successive introduction of segment-leading new models and features,” Chairman and Chief Executive Adrian Hallmark said in a statement.
The Bentayga SUV remained the most popular model, accounting for 42 percent of sales in its sixth year since its launch. The Flying Spur accounted for 28 percent, while the Continental GT and convertible models made up the final 30 percent. (The latter models earn regularly Robb Reports Car of the Year designation.)
“A profit turnaround of almost €1 billion (£880 million) has been achieved since 2018, despite an unprecedented period of disruption and crises, including Brexit, Covid, semiconductor supplies, Ukraine and the UK’s economic instability,” adds Hallmark.
Photo by Robb Rice.
After such a fruitful year, Bentley is certainly well positioned to execute on the $3.2 billion Beyond100 strategy of reinventing the entire lineup to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. The company recently announced that it will end production of its W12 engine in 2024 and has introduced a range of plug-in hybrids. However, the brand’s first EV is not expected before 2025.
Hallmark is cautiously optimistic for this year. He says 2023 shows “strong potential” but acknowledges the market is becoming increasingly volatile. Stay tuned.
