Bentley sales returned to pre-recession levels in 2011

The new Continental GTC helped Bentley sales hit highs in 2011

Bentley has seen sales in 2011 return to the levels of 2007, with sales up by 37 percent over 2010. China is now Bentley’s second biggest market.

It doesn’t seem five minutes since Bentley were getting their highly skilled workforce to make furniture to keep them busy, so slow were sales as the recession started to bite.

And despite slow sales, Bentley managed to throw in an inflation-busting price increase of 5 per cent for their cars in 2009, blaming the weak Pound (as we said at the time, it seemed mad and they’d be better off waiting for the Euro to crash and burn in the wake of the recession – we do get things right occasionally), but despite that ill-timed price hike Bentley has come back strongly.

Sales for Bentley in 2011 were pretty much back to pre-recession levels, with global sales up by 37 per cent on 201 to 7003 cars. The US is still Bentley’s biggest market (up 32 per cent to 2021 cars) but China has jumped in to second place with sales of 1839 cars in 2011.

Europe managed to swallow 1187 Bentleys (up 53 per cent) although the UK struggled with just 5 per cent increase over 2010 and sales numbers of 1031. Even the troubled Middle East saw rising sales for Bentley.

No doubt sales were improved on the back of the new Continental GT – accounting for over a third of Bentley’s total sales in 2011 – and the new GTC played a small part as the first customer cars started to arrive in December. And despite the economic mire engulfing the world, sales look set to rise even further in 2012.

The Continental GTC will make a full year’s contribution in 2012, but more importantly the arrival of the Continental GT V8 at Detroit this month should see extra sales for Bentley once it starts to arrive in showrooms later in 2012. Bentley even say they have a healthy order bank for the seemingly rare as hens teeth Mulsanne.

The car industry in the UK could turn out to be a real economic saviour for UK PLC in 2012.