Bentley celebrates major manufacturing milestone

Luxury car maker Bentley Motors has produced its 200,000th car since the birth of the marque in 1919.

The Bentayga Hybrid, destined for a Chinese customer, met the oldest surviving Bentley, EXP 2 as it rolled off the production line at the home of Bentley in Crewe.

The manufacturing milestone is even more remarkable when it’s considered that the 200,000th car is the latest of 155,582 vehicles built at Crewe since 2003.

Today, Bentley is building 85 cars per day. Two decades ago it took a month to build the same number of vehicles.

In comparison to Bentley’s modern era, in the year of Bentley’s first existence (1919-2002), the company built 44,418 luxury cars – 38,933 of them in Crewe.

Among that total were many iconic models of their time, including the Bentley Blower, the R-Type Continental, Mulsanne, Arnage and Azure. Incredibly, records show that 84 per cent of all cars built for the UK market are still on the road today.

A major investment programme at the Crewe factory since 2003 has gone hand-in-hand with the success of the Bentley Continental GT, the definitive luxury Grand Tourer. The 80,000th individual, made-to-order example was built in January this year.

“This production of the 200,000th car is just the latest landmark on the extraordinary journey that Bentley has been travelling since its foundation in 1919,” said Bentley’s Chairman and Chief Executive, Adrian Hallmark.

“In 2003 the introduction of the Continental GT represented a transformative moment for the brand, and this Bentley alone, has represented 80,000 sales of our total 200,000, and created both a new segment, and a contemporary image foundation for the Bentley business.

“The pace of progress has accelerated significantly since 2003 and we are now entering the next period of transformation as we pursue our Beyond100 strategy, with the aim of positioning Bentley as the global leader in sustainable luxury mobility.”

Looking to the future, Bentley Motors aims to be end-to-end carbon neutral by 2030, with the Crewe factory climate positive thereafter.

Bentley will move to full electrification – PHEV or BEV only – by 2026, then switch the entire model range to battery electric vehicles by 2030.