Bentley Achieves Sales Record with 2022 Results

For Bentley, 2022 proved to be a very good year indeed. The British luxury automaker reported selling 15,174 vehicles last year, with full-year sales up 4% from 2021’s 14,569 units and establishing a new record for the company.

The company said new model introductions, such as Bentley’s new Flying Spur gas-electric hybrid and 2023 Bentley Bentayga EWB, as well as increasing demand for Mulliner personalization, drove demand higher. 

“In what was another year of unpredictability, the business overcame significant headwinds and demonstrated great resilience to deliver the third consecutive record sales year,” said Adrian Hallmark, chairman and CEO of Bentley Motors, in a statement. “This underlines our brand strength, operational excellence and strong global demand by market and model.”

The Americas remained Bentley’s biggest market, accounting for 28% of sales, followed by China at 24%, Europe at 19%, Asia Pacific at 13%, the United Kingdom at 10%, and the Middle East, Africa and India accounting for 6 percent. While sales slipped less than 1% in America, sales in China slid 9 percent. But the sales shortfalls in Bentley’s biggest markets were made up by year-over-year gains in other markets, including Europe (up 11%), Asia Pacific (up 23%), United Kingdom (Up 12%), and the Middle East, Africa and India (up 4%).

Bentley ended the year with 241 retailers in 65 countries.

What’s hot

Not surprisingly, the Bentayga SUV remains Bentley’s most popular model. After six years on the market, the Bentayga has grown to account for 42% of the brand’s sales, followed by the Continental and Continental GT, which account for 30% of Bentley’s 2022 sales, with the performance-orientated GT Speed grabbing 31% of Continental buyers. Meanwhile, the Flying Spur nabbed 28% of sales, with the new hybrid variant chosen by 30% of buyers.

“The reaction to the market introduction of our hybrid models, Flying Spur joining Bentayga last year, demonstrate the path the luxury sector is heading, and we are positioned firmly at the forefront,” Hallmark said. “These numbers are validation that we not only lead the sector in sales and market share, but also investment in electric technologies and commitment to being net carbon neutral in 2030.”      

An expanding luxury brand

While many luxury automakers market lifestyle trinkets, such as watches, Bentley has gone much further as it looks to establish itself as a leading luxury lifestyle purveyor, as well as a luxury automaker.

More recently, the company began selling units at its first condominium tower, The Bentley Residences in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, near Miami Beach. It follows Porsche as the second Volkswagen Group brand to offer oceanfront residences built with an in-unit multi-car garage accessed through a patented car elevator. 

The 60-story tower, currently under construction, is being developed at a cost of $850 million. Bentley Residences range in size from 4,200 to 6,500 square feet with Atlantic Ocean and Intracoastal views, and are priced from $4.2 million.

And once built, you can fill it with Bentley home furnishings, a collaboration between Bentley designers and furniture maker Luxury Living Group. 

Beyond real estates, in July, Bentley announced a partnership with Scotch whiskey distiller Macallan, similar to the relationship it has with exclusive watch company Breitling. The companies are intending to create cross-marketing ventures and even jointly branded products, such as Macallan-badged versions of Bentley vehicles.

Bentley’s record annual sales follow a similar announcement from Bentley’s archrival, Rolls-Royce. The company reported record sales results for 2022 on Monday of 6,021 vehicles in 2022, up 8% on same period in 2021.