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Bentley sales in the US have been affected
by the credit crunch – though not as badly as less prestigious brands,
said the luxury automaker’s engineering director Ulrich Eichhorn. But
growing sales in new markets such as China and India have gone a long
way to replacing lost sales in America, he says.
In any case, Eichhorn does not believe
Bentley sales will be decimated by the credit crunch. “Most of our
customers don’t live in sub-prime houses. Their buying power is not
directly affected – it’s more a general mood and atmosphere.”
Meanwhile unit profitability has been
improved this year thanks to more up-market versions being sold, in
particular the Speed models, which Eichhorn said have been “an
incredible success”. He continued: “The GT Speed model is selling at
more than twice the rate that we expected. It’s the best of the range –
and our customers want the best!”
For the future technology, Bentley is
going green. “Over the past five years we have reduced CO2
emissions by 60g/km – a 15% reduction. And we will reduce this by a
further 15% up to 2012,” he said.
Later, a more radical development is
planned. “We will introduce a powertrain that is 40% more efficient than
those we use today – without any sacrifice in performance or refinement.
We’re not talking about it yet, but it will be in the market by 2012,”
says Eichhorn.
“The third leg of our low-CO2
strategy is that all our cars must by 2012 be compatible with renewable
fuels – and that has to mean renewable biofuels of the second
generation,” he adds. |
