Luxury car brand Bentley unveils 2021 profits and breaks previous half-year record

Bentley Motors has set another personal best, after fruitful 2021 semi annual sales and profit levels reached previously unseen numbers within the company’s 102 years of existence. 

The British luxury car and SUV manufacturer Bentley Motors, which is headquartered in the English town of Crewe and currently employs over 4,000 people, announced the impressive H1 performance on Friday on 30th July 2021. 

Moreover, the January-June interval report marked China as the company’s greatest market in a time period of over a decade, after the most populated country in the world purchased 2,155 vehicles out of 7,199 in total and reached a 73 percent increase compared to 2019. 

Founded as Bentley Motors Limited by English engineer Walter Owen Bentley MBE in the Cricklewood area in North London in 1919, the company quickly gained world fame after winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans sports race five times from 1924 to 1930. 

The brand’s combination of fine craftsmanship, engineering expertise and cutting-edge technology which blossomed through the years has now made history as the company achieved operating profit of €178 million, which according to their press release is “greater than any profit figure posted for a full-year period.” 

Furthermore, well-balanced retail sales between the luxury marque’s three model lines, Bentayga (2,767), Continental GT (2,318) and Flying Spur (2,063), marked a 46 per cent increase in contrast to pre-COVID 19 numbers assessed at 4,785.

Satisfied of the company’s outstanding shape Bentley Chairman and CEO, Adrian Hallmark said: “These results are an important milestone on our mission Beyond100, namely to become the leading sustainable luxury mobility company by 2030. They are the outcome of favourable market conditions, combined with three years of hard work within Bentley, where we have reinvented our products, restructured our operations, managed three crises, and defined our 2030 strategy.”

Hallmark also added: “We have worked relentlessly to transform our entire organisation through productivity improvements and cost efficiencies, and the double-digit return on sales is validation that we are on the right path to enable a sustainable business model.”

As expected, the Bentayga SUV remained the English producer’s best-selling model and reached full market availability for the first time ever, surpassing the Continental GT coupe and convertible duo, as well as the Flying Spur that in turn reached a 29 per cent global sale after the Crewe brand upgraded the vehicle with a V8 engine. 

Bentley’s 2021 H1 revenue was €1.32 billion compared to modest pre-COVID numbers reaching only €834.8 million in 2019, thus obtaining the highest ever return on sales estimated at 13 per cent. 

That being said, the company broke its own most successful year record from 2014, when it achieved a half-year revenue of €887 million and an operating result of €95.2 million, and furthermore exceeded the same year’s complete profit within the first six months in 2021. 

According to these results the ultra-luxe brand is confident that demand could continue to grow in the second part of the year as it announced new model derivatives Bentayga Hybrid and S.

Nevertheless, the experienced CEO reported that they are interpreting these positive results with caution as increasing COVID-19 numbers might affect global production or sales. 

Hallmark emphasised: “While we celebrate these results, we are not taking the full year outlook for granted as we know there are still sizeable risks to the year-end, notably the increasing number of colleagues having COVID enforced self-isolation periods. 

“That notwithstanding, our financial strength is a positive sign and as we continue on our biggest transformation and investment programme in history, Beyond100, fully electrifying our entire model range within a decade, we continue on track with our aim to become the world’s benchmark luxury car business, financially resilient and recession-proof.”

Aside from China, which found its way back to the global top as the number one market, the Americas followed closely behind with a total of 2,049 purchases, while Europe anchored at third place with 1,142 acquired vehicles.  

The company also reported on its improved dealership network with 240 showrooms in 67 countries which helped it ship 778 vehicles in Asia’s Pacific region, whilst the domestic UK market generated 554 sales. 

The British manufacturer is aiming to straighten its position on the market with nine new product introductions, including the debut of GT Speed and Bentayga S in the coming months, while slowly following its Beyond100 strategy.