Has Bentley Motors just become the bellwether of the global recovery?

Today’s financial results from Bentley certainly may provide a more intriguing insight into the state of the global economy than its modest car production numbers and 4,000-strong workforce could, at first glance, suggest.

In common with other leading global markets, the UK automotive industry took a real bashing last year because of Covid: in 2020, UK car production slumped to levels not seen since 1984, as British factory outputs dropped a precipitous 29%.

So fast forward a year: in the first six months of 2021, Bentley made more profit than in any full year since the company was founded by WO Bentley in 1919. That remarkable renaissance in the UK’s automotive sector, which has left markets and commentators dazzled and confused, is also reflected in the punchy numbers reported today by three of the UK’s largest London-listed car dealer groups: Lookers said its first-half profits would be 25% higher than previously anticipated; Inchcape said it was on track for profits of £260m this year, up 9% on forecast; and Vertu said it expected its profits to exceed forecast by about 40%.

But it could just be that that glamorous luxury car manufacturer, Bentley Motors, based in Crewe and part of Volkswagen, has most to tell us about the shape of the post-pandemic recovery, the scale of global economic confidence, and the efficiency gains waiting to be realised by those focused on getting ahead.

It is not enough that Bentley adroitly brushed aside the shortage of semiconductors and production delays plaguing the rest of the global automotive industry. Instead, the brand raced ahead with sales volumes and revenues up a staggering 50% on pre-pandemic levels.

In the first half of this year, Bentley sold 7,199 cars. 30% of its sales came from China, the epicentre of the pandemic. Almost as many came from the Americas (and the economic recovery in the US is now storming ahead). Even sales in the UK outperformed historically strong markets for the super-rich such as the Middle East and India.

So what exactly does this tell us? Well, when the average unit price of a Bentley motor car is £183,000, it tells us that China and the USA have already made exceptional strides forward since the wallowing depths of the Covid public health crisis. It also suggests that global wealth has demonstrated itself to be remarkably well insulated from the worst effects of the pandemic and its economic maelstrom.

The recovery is clearly coming. The IMF has just said that the UK is on course to be the fastest growing major European economy, post-pandemic.

And it looks like Bentley Motors may just have proved it.