Bentley is heading towards an electric future with record sales

The British Bentley is booming. And his ebullient, upbeat boss Adrian Hallmark says it’s just the start, as the Crewe-based Cheshire automaker is undergoing a massive transformation on its journey from luxuriously sporty cars – with powerful but gas-guzzling petrol engines – to full zero-emissions Electrification.

Bentley recently celebrated record results in both sales and profits on its ambitious journey to full electrification, although Hallmark freely admits it’s been a “roller coaster” year.

This boom was driven by customers spending more on customizing high quality bespoke and personalized luxury models, which brought with it a larger profit margin.

The record revenue generated – the highest in the company’s 104-year history – will be reinvested internally to create new factory sites in Crewe that are not only amenable to the move to electrification, but also allow Bentley to produce even more of the lucrative personalized cars.

Chairman and Chief Executive Hallmark, who trained as an engineer and metallurgist and is a keen cyclist, may be the architect of the transformation, but he recognizes that the Crewe factory’s 4,000 employees are the heroes of this revolution, including many retrained for the switch.

The numbers alone are impressive. Bentley’s 2022 operating profit of €708m (£622m) represented an increase of €319m (£280m) over 2021 and is almost €1bn (£880m) above losses of €288m (£253m). ) before the 2018 pandemic.

But it was customer spending on lucrative extras, rather than additional sales, that helped total revenue soar 19 percent year-on-year as sales hit 3.38 billion euros (£2.97 billion).

That profit boost came as Bentley also celebrated record sales of 15,174 cars in 2022 — the first time it’s sold more than 15,000 in a year.

It also marked a “significant shift” in buying behavior as well-heeled customers chose more expensive personalized options and “extras” and invested more in exclusive limited edition and body-built “collectibles” – like the Bacalar – each costing around £2million. says trademark.

In fact, the average price of a Bentley sold has risen from €165,000 (£145,000) in 2018 to €220,000 (£193,000) in 2022, thanks to increased demand for personalisation, he adds.

But the best year for sales and financial performance also came amid unprecedented turmoil.

“We faced so many challenges last year. Ten to be exact. At least four of them could have shut down the store for months,” Hallmark said.

It was a testament to Bentley’s resilience, contingency planning, cost-cutting, restructuring, “value over volume” strategy – and its workforce – that the company not only survived, but thrived in the face of challenges that included wartime parts shortages prospered in Ukraine, economic uncertainty, rampant inflation and Covid, he says.

The strong performance also means Bentley, part of the giant Volkswagen Group, can self-fund its own investments, including €3bn (£2.64bn) in transforming its Crewe plant for electrification and expanding its lucrative bespoke Mulliner branch. It’s also a vote of confidence in the UK.

“We want to fund our own future and be self-sufficient,” Hallmark said.

As part of this “Beyond100” strategy, five new all-electric cars will be launched over a five-year period from 2026.

Bentley aims to electrify its entire range and achieve carbon neutral status by 2030 as it bids farewell to the gas-guzzling 12-cylinder petrol engine. “We’re committed to going fully electric,” says Hallmark.

The top seller in 2022 was Bentley’s Bentayga SUV, with sales up 42 percent, with the Continental GT and convertible accounting for a third. The flagship Flying Spur four-door grand tourer accounted for 28 percent of sales, boosted by a hybrid version.

Eleven of Bentley’s heritage cars – including Speed ​​Six and Team Blower – will appear and race at the Goodwood Members’ Meeting (goodwood.com) this coming weekend (April 15 and 16).

Scared of spiders? Not this one, for sure!

Car design guru Gordon Murray – who has created the iconic McLaren F1 supercar and a host of F1 racers during his distinguished career – has just unveiled his latest creation, an open-topped T.33 Spider that promises to be as practical as he is is high performance.

The car is powered by a mighty 617 hp 3.9-litre naturally aspirated Cosworth GMA.2 V12 engine with two removable roof panels and a sliding rear window.

Touted as “a really viable supercar”, the carbon composite roof panels can be stowed in the 115-litre front luggage compartment, with the two side storage compartments providing an additional 180 liters of storage space.

It will be hand built alongside its T.33 hardtop brother at Gordon Murray Automotive’s new bespoke global headquarters and technology campus in Windlesham, Surrey.

Professor Murray said: “When I draw a car, I imagine how it feels to sit in it and how it feels to drive. So from the very first sketch, I knew the T.33 Spider, with its open cockpit and incredible Cosworth GMA.2 V12 engine right behind you, would offer a truly immersive driving experience second to none.”

But even though it’s a mid-engined supercar, he insisted, “I wouldn’t compromise on usability. For this reason, the T.33 Spider is unique in the supercar sector, offering both integrated overhead storage and a luggage capacity of 295 litres.”

Limited to just 100 models, around half of which are said to have already been sold, the Spider is set to go into production in 2025.

The price is expected to start at around £1.9 million.

Better start saving…