Bentley beats the slump as sales to China double

Despite the economic difficulties facing much of the world, global sales for the now VW-owned firm were up 37% to 7003 for the year with sales accelerating as the year progressed. December sales were the best month since Bentley's pre-recession record of 2007 and the second best month ever. The US continues to be Bentley's number one market with 2021 cars sold in 2011, an increase of almost one third. For the first time ever, however, China took second spot with sales for the region virtually doubling to 1839 and surpassing the previous year's record before the end of July. Bentley said the achievement was even more remarkable considering it had been present in mainland China for less than ten years. Chairman and chief executive Wolfgang Dürheimer, said the growth reflected brand strength and "a recognition of the quality, craftsmanship and engineering excellence of our cars". He went on: "It is also testament to the work of the entire Bentley team whose passion and daily commitment has delivered this outstanding result. It has been particularly pleasing to see renewed interest in Bentley in established as well as new and emerging markets. The company said the strong performance was the result of demand across the range, with the new Continental GT (pictured) proving the most popular model.