Bentley boom is over — for now

The global sales slump finally has caught up with high-flying Bentley Motors.

Volkswagen AG's British superluxury brand has enjoyed a terrific decade, but its rapid growth has come to a screeching halt this year.

Sales in 2008 will decline about 30 percent both worldwide and in the United States, said Stuart McCullough, Bentley's board member for worldwide sales and marketing.

At the Los Angeles Auto Show, McCullough said he expects Bentley's global sales to fall to about 7,000 units this year from 10,014 in 2007. And he said North American sales will skid to about 3,000 from 4,290 last year. Through October, U.S. sales were down 30.1 percent to 2,333.

Bentley, which has 37 U.S. dealers, has almost three months of inventory in the United States but does not want to pile on incentives, McCullough said.

"We're not putting on dealer cash or cash for retailing, but we're helping fund dealer stock levels," he said.

If a dealer is considerably above normal inventory levels, McCullough said, Bentley provides financial assistance.

Bentley cut production 15 percent this year. "We saw the cascade coming," McCullough said.

At the Los Angeles show, Bentley rolled out a special edition of its Azure — the 500-hp Azure T. The Azure T will be priced about $50,000 above the standard open-top Azure, which starts at $342,495 including shipping.

Only 400 will be produced, with about 100 coming to the United States. The U.S. debut is expected next summer.