POSTWAR BOOM
Industry Leaders|June 2021
PANDEMIC BRINGS GOOD SALES GROWTH FOR LUXURY CAR BRANDS
Olivia Miller
POSTWAR BOOM

The automobile industry witnessed a downturn during the Pandemic, with most of the world in a lockdown and people avoiding big purchases. But one segment of the sector seems to have just sailed through the hard times—the luxury car manufacturers. For the luxury car manufacturers and dealers, 2020 was a good year with a strong order book in 15 years, and it seems 2021 has delivered even better results.

“Let’s just say we began 2020 with the strongest order bank since 2003—and we started this January with 50% more orders than last January,” Bentley’s Adrian Hallmark said in a talk with journalists. The legacy manufacturer saw its highest sales in its 101year history with 11,206 vehicles delivered in 2020, up 1.8% year-over-year.

“Our sales right now are some 30% above last year, even bearing in mind last year was a record,” Hallmark added. “It would take an even bigger asteroid than the Covid one to knock us off track again.”

Bugatti, the French car maker was equally upbeat about its performance. Stephen Winkelmann, the CEO, said he was “surprised” at how they had done during the Pandemic. He revealed that 2020 was the company’s third record-breaking year in a row.

Indeed, the luxury car maker bosses are gearing up to ride ahead on their last year’s performance into the next decade.

This story is from the June 2021 edition of Industry Leaders.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the June 2021 edition of Industry Leaders.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM INDUSTRY LEADERSView All
Architects Pick Their Favorite Building Material
Industry Leaders

Architects Pick Their Favorite Building Material

Henry Ford, the father of assembly-line manufacturing, had a saying: “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black.”

time-read
4 mins  |
June 2021
POWERFUL WOMEN IN FINANCE
Industry Leaders

POWERFUL WOMEN IN FINANCE

The coronavirus is not only a public health crisis of magnitude – it’s also a looming reshuffle of the global economic order. Leading through the pandemic and economic crisis is not a minor accomplishment, but the events of this past year haven’t stopped the 10 trailblazers who make up Industry Leaders’ Most Powerful Women in Finance list.

time-read
5 mins  |
June 2021
GERMANY ADOPTS NEW LAW TO HASTEN THE END OF COAL PLANTS
Industry Leaders

GERMANY ADOPTS NEW LAW TO HASTEN THE END OF COAL PLANTS

A new climate law adopted by Germany requires that all coal-fired power plants be shut down before the promulgated 2038 deadline. In January 2020, the German government had negotiated a deal worth €40 billion to phase out coal power by 2038, but now it seems the country is in a hurry to end its dependence on coal power due to urgent climate concerns.

time-read
1 min  |
June 2021
IRS AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT INVESTIGATING CRYPTO EXCHANGE BINANCE
Industry Leaders

IRS AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT INVESTIGATING CRYPTO EXCHANGE BINANCE

Singapore-based Binance was co-founded in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao, and is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is probing money laundering and tax-related offenses on the platform by any US citizen. They are investigating whether any illegal trading of derivatives linked to digital tokens was done. The United States residents can only purchase these kinds of products from firms registered with the CFTC.

time-read
1 min  |
June 2021
GEN Z ANGELS
Industry Leaders

GEN Z ANGELS

INVESTORS SEEM TO BE GETTING YOUNGER AND YOUNGER.

time-read
5 mins  |
June 2021
Biggest AI Talent Grab of the Year
Industry Leaders

Biggest AI Talent Grab of the Year

In a post-COVID-19 world, the role of Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) will be redefined. Companies striving to defend their existing markets and accelerate recovery are looking at a wide range of strategies such as alliances and partnerships. In addition, deal-makings now have to reflect the new environmental and societal priorities of the post-crisis world, which include making organic changes like going virtual, remote collaborations, and potentially less inperson networking.

time-read
5 mins  |
June 2021
POSTWAR BOOM
Industry Leaders

POSTWAR BOOM

PANDEMIC BRINGS GOOD SALES GROWTH FOR LUXURY CAR BRANDS

time-read
4 mins  |
June 2021
GOOGLE PLANS TO BUILD A COMMERCIAL QUANTUM COMPUTER BY 2029
Industry Leaders

GOOGLE PLANS TO BUILD A COMMERCIAL QUANTUM COMPUTER BY 2029

Google is confident it can build a commercial-grade quantum computer by 2029. The search engine giant’s chief executive Sundar Pichai announced the plan to build a quantum computer during the Google I/O stream. To follow through on this ambitious journey is an important milestone in the form of a new Quantum AI campus in Santa Barbara, California, where Google engineers and scientists will be hard to work to build the world’s first commercial quantum computer.

time-read
1 min  |
June 2021
BEYOND THE STARS
Industry Leaders

BEYOND THE STARS

The dream of space tourism is alive and well.

time-read
4 mins  |
June 2021
2021 SEMICONDUCTOR CHIP SHORTAGE
Industry Leaders

2021 SEMICONDUCTOR CHIP SHORTAGE

The semiconductor chip shortage is far from over but this hasn’t stopped governments around the globe from getting creative to move production ahead. The impact of the chip crisis on the automotive market has been debilitating, resulting in competition between automakers and electronics manufacturers.

time-read
4 mins  |
June 2021