Bentley in China: 4,000 Cars Sold Over the Next 5 Years

Even if some people think that Bentley's luxury models aren't quite appropriate for the current economic environment, the British manufacturer has high expectation when it comes to China, one of its top three markets, as the company explained. Specifically, Bentley expects its sales to total at least 4,000 cars over the next five years in China.

But looking to the previous year and to the current sales figures, such a goal is more than impossible. For instance, Bentley sold a total of 407 units in China last year, according to figures provided by gasgoo.com. This year, the company is performing even worse, with deliveries in the country dropping 10 percent from a year earlier. Nevertheless, the company expects both the Chinese economy and the auto market to recover, which translates into a significant growth from last year figures.

Bentley started experiencing problems due to the economic recession in early 2009 when it decided to suspend production at its Crewe facility for six weeks. The biggest drop was reported in the United States where new car deliveries started losing ground since the first quarter of 2008. But even so, sales in emerging markets such as China and the Middle East were impressively high, with increases of 133.3 and 10.4 percent, respectively.

Back in 2008, when Bentley started feeling the pressure of the regression, the company's officials stepped in front of the media and confirmed their high expectations for the year, saying that 2008 sales should reach about the same sales as 2007's.

“We still expect our annual sales performance to be at around the same level as 2007, but also to maintain our profitability despite the challenging exchange rate impacts,” Stuart McCullough, Board Member for Sales and Marketing, said in 2008 when the financial crisis already started making its presence felt in the automotive world.