Bentley celebrates 200,000 production milestone

Bentley is commemorating the creation of its 200,000th vehicle since the company’s founding in 1919.

The car in question – a Bentayga Hybrid destined for a customer in China – met the oldest surviving Bentley, the EXP 2, alongside some of the firm’s longest-serving members of staff.

It’s the latest in 155,582 cars built at the firm’s Crewe headquarters since 2003 too, the year that the original Continental GT was launched, marking the start of a new era of more modern sports cars for the company. Today, Bentley builds 85 cars a day – the same amount that would’ve taken it a month to produce two decades ago.

Bentley’s chairman and chief executive, Adrian Hallmark, said: “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.

“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.”

Bentley recently announced that it would move to full electrification – either via plug-in hybrid or standard hybrid- by 2026, before switching the entire model range to electric-only 2030.