SALES of Rolls-Royce and Bentley motor cars have increased compared to last year fuelled mainly by a rise in sales in America.

Compared to the same period last year sales of the two cars have gone up by 13.2 per cent following a major increase in North America of 84.7 per cent over the first six months of last year.

In Continental Europe sales rose by 34 per cent over the same time and business in Japan grew by 10.3 per cent.

However the UK market has recorded a drop in sales which the company believes is due to two factors.

The launch of the new products was earlier than in any other market and there has been a conscious decision to begin to reduce dependency on the home market.

Chief executive of Rolls-Royce and Bentley, Tony Gott, said: "We are pleased to record a substantial increase in sales over the first half of 1998 and particularly encouraged by the success we have seen in North America, which is of course our largest potential market.

"We are keeping a close eye on the United Kingdom market and will use our experience in this market to ensure that we balance supply with demand to ensure our motor cars remain exclusive and built to order."

Two new senior executives have also been appointed to have responsibility for the firm's operations in the UK and for customer services and will be based at Crewe.

Malcolm Wade, aged 42, formerly director sales and marketing at Volvo, has been appointed managing director of UK Operations.

Andrew Watt, aged 33, joins from Aston Martin where he has spent the last five years as general manager of marketing and will be director of customer services.

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