CREWE luxury car maker Bentley Motors has announced record sales in 2020 despite the impact of the pandemic.

Despite having to shut down production for a time and being hit by the global lockdown, Bentley has revealed it is selling more than ever in its 101-year history with 11,206 cars sold during the last year, an increase of two per cent over 2019.

Bentley's previous record sales year was in 2017 when it sold 11,089 cars.

Ending the year with 237 retailers in 67 countries, the car giant attributed its success to a strong performance in the Chinese market, the Americas and Asia Pacific as well as the launch of the all-new Flying Spur.

Chairman and CEO Adrian Hallmark said: "Even though we anticipated greater sales before the pandemic struck, when you consider the level of restrictions around the world for the majority of the year, to achieve a record sales performance is a strong measure of our potential.

"As we look to the year ahead we remain cautiously optimistic as much remains uncertain. One thing that doesn't is our commitment to progress, the first step of which is the launch of the Bentayga Hybrid.

"This is one of nine new models we will launch this year as we continue on our Beyond100 strategic path and our accelerated journey towards becoming a fully electrified car company by 2030."

Bentley shut down production at its Pyms Lane site for seven weeks in March and April and was running at 50 per cent output for a further nine weeks after as social distancing measures were introduced.

But a comprehensive redesign of the production facility enabled the firm to meet global demand and stick with social distancing protocols.

The Americas remained Bentley's number one region although a strong performance in China, posting an increase of 48 per cent, ran it close.

The Flying Spur was warmly received in the industry and demand was increased further in October with the introduction of a high-performance V8 engine derivative.

The Bentley Continental GT (24 per cent) and GT Convertible (15 per cent) together accounted for 39 per cent of total sales, finishing the year as Bentley's number one selling model line.

However, in spite of the run out of the previous generation model, and delays to market entry of the all-new Bentayga due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the pioneering, go-anywhere SUV was still the biggest selling single model, accounting for 37 per cent of total sales.

The Americas region delivered 3,035 cars, an increase of four per cent on the corresponding figure for 2019 (2,913).

While Bentley's biggest growth was reserved for China, which saw a 48 per cent increase in sales (2,880 cars against 1,940 previously) as the traditional sedan market welcomed the introduction of the all-new Flying Spur.

Europe closed the year with the delivery of 2,193 cars, against a figure of 2,670 in 2019, a decrease of 18 per cent with the region impacted because of the market entry delays of the all-new Bentayga.

Bentley's home market in the UK continued its consistent performance, recording sales of 1,160 cars, although this represented a decrease of 22 per cent over the previous year.

Bentley delivered 735 cars to the Middle East in 2020 and 1,203 cars to the Asia Pacific region.

This week the car maker launched its new Bentayga Hybrid, which is describes as "the only electrified true-luxury SUV in the world".

The hybrid is the third model in the luxury SUV portfolio after the launches of the new Bentayga V8 and Bentayga Speed.