People who buy cars from brands like Bentley aren’t generally concerned with things like recessions and the opinions of the masses, but the automaker thinks its customers are buying fewer expensive cars because they feel bad about showing off. Bentley CEO Adrian Hallmark said the company’s disappointing profit numbers from 2023 reflect its buyers’ “emotional sensitivity.”
The Drive reached out to Bentley, and found that the company’s customers have no problem affording its cars, but at least part of the sales slowdown is due to buyers’ “level of emotional sensitivity that slowed down demand.”
Of course, we can take this conversation in a few different directions. The first is that Bentley customers are experiencing a crisis of conscience, in which they feel their extravagant vehicle purchases are inappropriate in today’s less-than-comfortable economic situation.
The second is an assessment of the punitive interest rates many buyers face, which could make a multiple-hundred-thousand-dollar purchase even more expensive. However, regardless of the cause, the situation could cause significant issues if they’re not rectified.
Even so, the company has released recent sales numbers, boasting that, while overall sales were down, the models it sold were higher profit margin vehicles. So, while Bentley’s “every day” buyers might have had qualms about showing off their wealth, the top-end buyers with tens of thousands of dollars to burn on a W12 engine and champagne-level options don’t seem to have the same worries.
[Image: Bentley]
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