British luxury automaker Bentley Motors reported that it has achieved its third best ever year of sales in 2023 at 13,560 units, however, it was a dip of 11% as compared to 2022. Key markets like China and the UK saw a decline of 18% each due to difficult market conditions while there was positive growth in Asia Pacific (5% up) and the Middle East, India and Africa (2% up).
Personalisation surges 43%
Notably, the interest in luxury personalisation last year reached higher levels than before, representing a 43% rise over the year-ago period. Around three-quarters of Bentley customers went beyond the 46 billion different configurations available from the standard options range to add elements from Bentley’s Mulliner division.
SUVs and high-traction models keep up the momentum
Despite a dip in the number of units sold, Bentley customers chose higher revenue models such as Azure, S and Speed, representing 70% of total sales as compared to 30% in 2022. Bentley Bentayga luxury SUV remained the highest-selling model, accounting for 44% of total sales, following introduction of Extended Wheelbase (EWB). It reached more than a third of the company’s SUV orders in its first full-year on sale. Other SUVs such as Continental GT and GT Convertible saw consistent appeal with sales accounting for 31% or nearly a third of overall figures while Flying Spur contributed 25% to total sales.
UK leads in hybrid sales
In terms of hybrid sales, Bentley’s home-turf – the UK – lead the market with one in four Flying Spur and Bentayga customers choosing the hybrid option. It became the number one selling region for hybrid models by proportion, with 27% of sales in 2023 selected as a hybrid option.
Despite challenging conditions in key global regions, the Americas maintained its position as the biggest selling global market for Bentley. “The luxury market was not immune from the challenging market conditions seen around the world in the second half of 2023 and despite this we were able to deliver our third highest retail position in history and enter 2024 with a strong order bank. We remain cautiously optimistic for the year ahead, with a continued robust global demand by market and model,” said Adrian Hallmark, Chairman and CEO of Bentley Motors.