Buyers worldwide fire up Bentley sales

The luxury car maker Bentley saw sales leap last year, driven by strong demand for its latest Continental model from America and China.

The Crewe-based manufacturer – which is owned by Volkswagen – yesterday said that it sold 7,003 cars last year, which represents an increase of 37 per cent on the previous 12 months. Sales accelerated throughout the year, with December producing the second-best monthly total of 1,059, up 69 per cent on the same month in 2010.

"It has been a tremendously good year for Bentley," its chairman and chief executive Wolfgang Dürheimer said. "It has been particularly pleasing to see renewed interest in Bentley in established as well as new and emerging markets, all of which is contributing to a positive financial result for 2011.

"We want that success to continue and, with a new Continental V8 set to attract new customers in 2012, we have ambitious but realistic plans which reflect global economic conditions as much as our new product line-up."

Sales of Bentleys to America rose more than a third to 2,021, while those to China almost doubled to 1,839 and even the UK saw a 5 per cent rise in sales to 1,031.