Bentley records highest half-year profit; beats all previous full-year figures

Bentley Motors has registered the highest-ever half-year performance this year greater than any profit figure posted for a full-year period by the company. It posted a profit figure of €178 million in the first six months of 2021. Its retail sales also witnessed an increment by 50 per cent at 7,199 units in the first half of the year as compared to the same period in 2019 at 4,785 units.

Despite the pandemic woes, the luxury car maker's three main models witnessed well-balanced demand with Bentayga selling 2,767 units, the Continental GT selling 2,318 units and Flying Spur selling 2,063 units. "These results are an important milestone on our mission Beyond100, namely to become the leading sustainable luxury mobility company by 2030," said Adrian Hallmark, Bentley’s Chairman and CEO.

The Bentayga, however, maintained the number one position in the model line-up as its full market availability was reached for the first time. The company has also announced Hybrid and S variants for the model.

Thanks to the launch of Flying Spur in China, the model has contributed to 29 per cent share the model line-up's global sales, further helped by the addition of the V8 engine. Bentley is also anticipating that the sales for its Continental GT model could reach record numbers three years after introduction as it plans to introduce the Speed variant in the second half of the year.

China became Bentley’s biggest selling market for the first time in nearly a decade with 2,155 units sold. This was followed by the US where the car maker sold 2,049 units. In Europe, it delivered 1,142 cars while Asia Pacific accounted for sales of 778 cars. The Middle East, Africa and India took deliveries of 521 units. Bentley currently has a network of 240 retailers in 67 countries.

Despite the record sales and profit, Bentley says that it has to remain cautious of the continued uncertainty due to the pandemic which could negatively impact the second half of the year. "While we celebrate these results, we are not taking the full year outlook for granted as we know there are still sizable risks to the year-end," Hallmark added.