Bentley to invest $44 mln in China to boost sales

The luxury car maker Bentley Motors Inc on Wednesday said it planned to invest 300 million yuan ($44 million) in China to boost its annual sales and build more outlets in the country, the Shanghai Daily reported.

Bentley aims to boost annual sales to 1,000 units before 2014, as compared to 407 units in 2008. Furthermore, the luxury car maker also plans to triple the number of outlets in the country to 20 with the next five years in a bid to make China one of its top-three markets.

China is currently the fifth largest market for Bentley, and accounts for roughly 10% of the car maker's total sales.

Bentley last year said that the Chinese market is becoming an increasingly important market for its products, and that sales in China will exceed sales in the U.S. by 2012.

China's vehicle sales hit a record high of 1.15 million units in April, up 25% year on year, according to figures released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

Passenger car sales, comprising sales of sedans, SUVs and MPVs, surged 37% year on year to hit 831,000 units in April, mainly boosted by the increasing demand for small cars and crossover vehicles.