Production at Bentley will remain steady around the 10,000 mark for at least the next three to four years, chief executive Franz-Josef Paefgen said.
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Volkswagen’s British luxury car arm has undergone the fastest growth in its history since VW took over in 1998, with production growing 10-fold in the last five years.
As a result Bentley’s balance sheet is looking the strongest it ever has and this week the company announced record profits for 2007 of EUR155m, an increase of 13% on 2006. Revenue also set a new record of EUR1.37bn, 2.7% up.
The next milestone in Bentley’s business plan will come around 2011/12 when an all-new Arnage is expected to be launched.
“Although there is some growth in developing markets, any future lift-up will have to be driven by a new model,” said Paefgen.
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By GlobalDataIncreased sales in developing markets like China and Russia are helping Bentley’s business. Sales in China are forecast to reach 1,000 by 2010. In 2007 they were 340.
How much the new Arnage will lift production is a moot point. Today the super luxury Arnage family – four-door, coupe and convertible — contributes just 1,000 units to Bentley’s 10,000 total.
Future sales growth in the super-luxury market for cars over GBP150k, where the Arnage competes, is limited, according to Bentley’s research.
This market is expected to stay static at around 3,500 to 4,000 cars a year, said Paefgen. Rolls-Royce and Bentley together share half this market between them.
Neither will Bentley be looking for growth with an additional model , like a super-luxury 4×4, an obvious brand extension according to some experts.
“Never,” is Paefgen’s unequivocal response.
Some more growth may come from the segment below, for cars over GBP100,000, where the Continental currently takes around half of the 18,000 annual global sales.
“Everyone can see this segment growing, but by how much is very, very hard to tell,” said Paefgen.
More sales in this segment are likely to be driven by additional Continental derivatives, like the Speed Six version of the GT. An all-new Continental family is at least four years away and it could be as many as six to eight.
Bentley would also have to change its Japanese-style shift programme to raise production significantly. Currently the Crewe factory runs on two shifts, separated by a buffer time of several hours for maintenance and trouble-shooting. An extra shift couldn’t be easily added without a major organisational overhaul.
The usual production bottle-neck of the paint shop isn’t an issue at Crewe, because all bodies for the Continental family are supplied ready-painted from VW’s Dresden factory.
Julian Rendell
