Bentley

The luxury car company Bentley Motors Limited opened its gates in 1919 in Cricklewood, England, by the hands of Walter Owen Bentley. The company that also builds grand touring automobiles, produced cars that repeatedly won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the 1920's.

Once owned by Rolls-Royce, it has been a division of the Volkswagen Group since 1998 and produces some of the most respected high performance luxury cars in the industry. After some large-scale investments in the company's facilities, it has seen a sharp rise in production numbers since the 2000s, only hampered by the financial crisis in 2008. After a difficult period, Bentley is expected to return to profits in 2011.