Bentley, recently hit by what chairman and CEO Adrian Hallmark describes as “a perfect storm” of loss-inducing business reverses, believes it's now on the road to recovery and can - Brexit allowing - score an all-time sales record next year.
Despite being hit by WLTP-related internal production delays that prevented expected launches of the new Continental GT in the US and China, which together account for just under 50% of Bentley’s business, the company still scored impressively high sales of 10,494 in 2018. It will start selling the GT in both countries by mid-year, and Hallmark says it could sell around 12,000 cars in 2020, with the recovery plan, which is backed by Volkswagen Group chiefs, already running ahead of forecasts.
Bentley faces five major challenges between now and 2025, Hallmark believes. The first, this year, is to complete its planned recovery. Next year’s is to “achieve the solid growth we’ve earned”. After that, it must diversify its range with a promised hybrid version of each model and a series of spin-offs similar to the recently announced Bentayga Speed.
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