Bentley Motors
Press release
www.bentleymedia.com

Crewe/Beijing/Berlin, 20th February 2012: Bentley has today confirmed two appointments to strengthen its regional sales and marketing operations. With effect from 1 February 2012, Till Scheer became Regional Director, Greater China and Guillaume Chabin rejoined Bentley as Regional Director, Europe.

Announcing the appointments, Member of the Board for Sales and Marketing, Alasdair Stewart, said:

“Bentley is going from strength to strength so it is important we have the very best people to lead this growth. With Guillaume and Till both having extensive experience of their respective markets and proven leadership skills, I am confident Bentley, our dealer partners and, most importantly, our customers will see the benefit of an even stronger Bentley team.”

Till Scheer (46) joins Bentley from Volkswagen Hong Kong where he was responsible for both the Volkswagen and Bugatti brands. A native of Germany, he was educated in the UK, France and the USA before joining the automotive industry. Having acquired extensive experience in sales, business planning and brand management within the German operations of both Renault and Fiat, Till joined the Volkswagen Group in Italy in 2003 as a Director, becoming group network planning Director in 2006. He moved to Hong Kong in 2008, establishing the Volkswagen importer operation for the region and subsequently delivering significant improvements in market share, customer satisfaction and profitability.

Till will now lead the growth of both the Bentley and Bugatti brands in China. In 2011, Bentley sales virtually doubled in China with 1839 cars sold in the region. With growth expected to continue in 2012, Till will also oversee the expansion of the network ensuring Bentley’s growth is matched by the customer service befitting the Brand’s high luxury status.

In Europe, sales increased by over a half last year, despite the economic fragility that affected certain markets. Led by a German market that increased by a remarkable 88% in 2011, Bentley expects further growth in 2012 with the arrival of the new Continental V8s as well as continued strong demand for the Bentley Mulsanne.

Guillaume Chabin (43) joins Bentley Motors from Lotus where he was responsible for the company’s worldwide sales, aftersales and retail development operations. Prior to that position Chabin acted as General manager EMEA for Ferrari’s headquarters and director of the German importer of the Italian manufacturer. With 20 years of extensive experience in automotive industry the father of three also looks back on a close relationship with Bentley Motors. Between 1999 and 2007 he worked at Bentley’s European Head Office in Berlin where he actively drove the redesign of the dealer network and sales activities.

1. Bentley Motors is the third largest R&D investor in the UK’s automotive sector and the 18th largest nationally. The company employs almost 4,000 people in Crewe which is home to all its operations including design, R&D, engineering and production. The combination of fine craftsmanship, using skills that have been handed down through generations, alongside engineering expertise and cutting-edge technology is unique to UK luxury vehicle manufacturers such as Bentley. It is also an example of high-value British manufacturing at its best. Bentley exports over £500m worth of goods every year to established markets like the US, as well as emerging markets such as China and South America.
2. Bentley’s global sales for 2011 increased by 37% with 7,003 cars delivered. This growth was led by the Chinese region (1839 cars sold) with mainland China (excl. Hong Kong and Taiwan) up 104.17% (1664 cars). However, the Americas remains the biggest market for Bentley with 2,021 cars delivered (up 32%) in 2011. All major markets were up with Europe up by over a half, due mainly to high demand in Germany (up by nearly 90%).  The UK market proved to be more challenging, but still saw an increase of over five per cent. The surge in sales was led by demand for the new Continental GT. Over one third of all Bentley sales in 2011 were GTs with 2404 delivered. December 2011 was Bentley’s best month since the recession and the second highest ever, boosted by the first deliveries of the new soft-top Continental GTC. We have ambitious but realistic plans to continue this growth in 2012.