Photo taken on Feb. 8, 2018 shows a Rolls Royce Black Badge Ghost at the Chicago Auto Show, the United States. The annual Chicago Auto Show entered its first day of media preview on Thursday. (Xinhua/Joel Lerner)

Luxury global auto brands have witnessed rising demand in Chinese market, reflecting the market's strong consumption potential.  

Britain's Rolls-Royce Motor Cars said on Monday that it delivered record number of sales in Chinese market during 2021, contributing to its highest-ever annual global sales results in the company's 117-year history.

The company delivered 5,586 high-end cars to clients around the world, up 49 percent on the same period in 2020. Overall figures included all-time record sales in most regions, including China, the Americas and Asia-Pacific, and in multiple countries across the globe, the company said in a statement sent to the Global Times on Monday. 

"2021 was a phenomenal year for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars," Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Chief Executive Torsten Muller-Otvos said. 

The company said its growth has been driven principally by Ghost, with demand surging following the launch of the Black Badge Ghost in October 2021. This, together with the continuing pre-eminence of Cullinan and the marque's pinnacle product, Phantom, has ensured order books are full well into the third quarter of 2022. 

Rolls-Royce also announced that its first all-electric car, Spectre, in 2021. The extraordinary undertaking of bringing Spectre to the market by the fourth quarter of 2023 has now begun, and the most punishing testing protocol ever conceived for a Rolls Royce is underway.

Fellow luxury carmaker Bentley Motors earlier said it delivered 14,659 new cars last year, 31 percent higher than its previous record set in 2020.

China was the firm's strongest market in sales growth for a second consecutive year, with annual sales reaching 4,033 units, a 40 percent of year-on-year increase compared to the 2,880 units sold in 2020. Both the Bentley Flying Spur and the Bentayga were the most popular models amongst Chinese car buyers, according to jiemian.com.

The combined sales of the Bentley brand in the Americas and China accounted for 57 percent of the global market.

Global Times