UP FRONT NEWS AND VIEWS ROLLS-ROYCE AND BENTLEY SALES SURGE AHEAD

Both Rolls-Royce and Bentley set new sales records in 2022, with Bentley surpassing 15,000 cars in a year for the first time ever, and Rolls-Royce breaking the 6000-car mark, also for first time. In addition, Rolls-Royce revealed that the average price of each new car they sell has now topped €500,000. This astonishing figure is driven by the rapid increase in the proportion of Rolls-Royces sold with bespoke customisation, which can see the standard base prices for the models in the range (between roughly £240,000 and £440,000) rise steeply with handtailored alterations. Bentley has also seen a rise in bespoke commissions through their Mulliner personalisation programme, which have increased five-fold in the last five years. The company’s biggest rises have been in the proportions of their cars to feature hybrid technology, which is proving particularly popular in the home market. For instance, hybrids now account for one in three Flying Spur sales, and that figure rises to two in three in the UK.

Rolls-Royce chose a different path, eschewing hybrid technology in favour of a move to fully electric propulsion, which they are to begin delivering later this year in the form of the Spectre. Though claiming an order book that ‘has exceeded the company’s most ambitious expectations’, Rolls-Royce declined to put a figure on the numbers of orders taken for this electric super-coupé, likely to cost in excess of £300,000.

For both firms, SUV models are the best sellers, with the Cullinan outperforming other Rolls-Royce models in all markets apart from Asia. For Bentley, the Bentayga remains the company’s most popular model, taking 42% of total Bentley production in 2022, with the remaining 58% split evenly between the two-door Continental GT and GTC, and the four-door Flying Spur.

Driven Overseas

For Rolls-Royce, three key markets have driven the growth that has defied the challenges of the global pandemic and the conflict in Europe. America, still the largest market for either firm, is joined in significance by China (by far the biggest part of the Asia-Pacific market) and the Middle East, which has been especially significant for Rolls-Royce. It’s the company’s largest market for Bespoke commissions and in 2022, Rolls-Royce opened a Private Office in Dubai, the first outside Goodwood. Demand for Goodwood cars has leapt in the Americas, which account for 35% of Rolls-Royce production. Sales in China dipped by single-digit percentages because of the impact on trade of coronavirus lockdowns, but the country still accounts for 25% of Rolls-Royce volumes.

For Bentley, sales in the United States were flat and those in China dipped by 9%. The rest of Asia was strong, up 23%, as was Britain, up 12% year-on-year and accounting for one in ten Bentley sales. Indeed, mainland Europe remains Bentley’s third most important market with 2809 cars sold in 2022, up 11% from 2021.

GOOD FOR GOODWOOD – AND CREWE

Both firms have been recruiting new staff to join their production facilities, bringing Bentley’s total to around 4000 employees in Crewe, while another 150 added to RollsRoyce’s team in Sussex brings the company’s total to around 2500, plus another 100 apprentices and graduate trainees, and 100 more internships.

It was exactly 20 years ago in January that the Goodwood plant began production, offering only one model (the then-new Phantom VII) and producing just one car a day – a rate of production that has now multiplied 18 times. Rolls-Royce has acquired land adjacent to the Goodwood site to permit expansion, as would seem to be necessary after so much growth.

Job security should be improved by strong sales and increasing orders, with Bentley looking forward to even more Bentayga sales as orders for the Hybrid and new Extended Wheelbase variants ramp up. The results marked a major achievement by two of the leading luxury brands in any sector, and bucked the trend of hard times suffered in most of the automotive industry. Great news for Britain’s image as a supplier of the world’s finest cars, and for the workforces that produce them. If only they were still British owned!