Bentley News Highlights
Bentley Motors has released the first picture of the Bentley SUV, due to hit roads in 2016. It will be the most luxurious and powerful SUV on the market, setting it apart from any other SUV, true to the brand hallmarks of luxury, performance, quality and craftsmanship. The SUV forms part of Bentley’s £800 million investment in new model and facilities development in the next three years. The company anticipates a minimum annual sales volume of 3000 SUVs.
Bentley has also firmly reinforced its position as the world’s largest producer of 12 cylinder engines after announcing its Crewe headquarters will become the centre of excellence for the Volkswagen Group for all W12 engine production from the end of 2014 onwards. With this decision, Bentley will export engines for the first time in its history, creating around 100 jobs across the business.
In addition, Bentley Motors has posted a significant growth in profit and turnover, its strongest ever performance, as the company outlined its financial results for the year ending 31 December 2013. Operating profit improved to a record £139.7 (€167.7) million, up 66.9% on the 2012 figure of £83.7 (€100.5) million. Turnover grew by 15.5% to £1.40 (€1.68) billion, the highest in Bentley’s history. Profit margin increased from 7% to 10%. Bentley’s continued success across the globe gathered pace, with exports contributing to 88% of total turnover, with a total export value of £1.23 (€1.48) billion. This success has continued into 2014, with global deliveries to customers growing by 13% to 1,408 cars by the end of February.
Finally, Bentley Motors has been named as one of Britain’s Top Employers for the third year running by the Top Employers Institute. Bentley’s dedication to the personal development, working environment and employee culture of the 3,700 colleagues who work at the Crewe headquarters was particularly praised.
