NW Bentley dealership lifts the gloom

A North West luxury car dealer has lifted some of the gloom surrounding the sector.

Bentley Manchester, which is based in Knutsford Cheshire, is proving home fires are burning bright for the luxury Crewe-based manufacturer.

Its sales are now the 6th-best out of 149 global dealerships – mainly thanks to price cuts on used models. Last year it sold 164 vehicles against 155 in 2007.

The dealership, which moved to £5m premises in 2008 after leaving Old Trafford , is nearing the world top five, which is led by the sales operation in Dubai followed by Beverley Hills, Mayfair, New York and Moscow.

Spokeswoman Emily Bell said demand from the region’s recession-proof footballers for the latest Bentley model was just a small part of the picture: “Of course we are happy to serve sports people, but footballers have probably only accounted for 5% of our sales in the last six months.

“Depending on the model and the mileage, you can now get a fantastic car at a great price – between £60,000 to £70,000 – which means Bentley ownership has been opened up to a new market.”

She said the Knutsford team, part of the Sytner Group, had sold 30 cars in December 2008 alone, and had either sales or orders for 59 new or used cars, including an order for the first-ever ‘green Bentley’ the Continental Supersports, which has unveiled last month at the Geneva Motorshow, and which will run on biofuel.

 Although Bentley has been hard hit by the recession and has cut jobs and production at Crewe as a result of falling sales – particularly in the US – Ms Bell said the action taken by the manufacturer was the right thing to do.

 “We work with Bentley Motors closely and cutting back on production was quite sensible – the last thing you want to do is flood the market with cars that are not selling and therefore damage the brand.”