An 82% growth in profit for British luxury carmaker Bentley helped to boost the Volkswagen Group’s premium car division – including Audi, Lamborghini and Ducati – to record 2022 financial results.

Bentley’s operating profit swelled by €319 million (£280m) last year as economic instability did little to dampen demand for a line-up which includes the Bentayga, Continental GT and Flying Spur, with sales rose by 4% to a record 15,174 units.

Overall, revenues jumped 19% year-on-year to €3.38bn (£2.97bn) at the Crewe-based OEM

Bentayga sales accounted for 42% of total sales, but it was demand for higher specification derivatives, higher option uptake and the sale of Limited Editions and coach-built collectibles that helped deliver a 20.9% return on sales across the year, Bentley said.

Chairman and chief executive Adrian Hallmark said: “Since the low point of 2018, the whole team at Crewe has been working intensively to restructure the business model, in parallel with launching successive segment leading new models and features. Last year marked a milestone in this journey.