Bentley is at the top of its game and in no hurry to grow beyond its current production of 10,000 cars a year, says Stuart McCullough, Bentley Motors' member of the board for sales and marketing.

Last month, the ultra-luxury brand unveiled its latest model at the Geneva motor show - the limited-edition Brooklands coupe.

The full-sized four-seater grand touring coupe is estimated to cost $1.5 million when it arrives here in the first half of 2008, and its lifetime production will be limited to only 550 units to ensure exclusivity.

'We have just hit our maximum production capacity, which is 10,000 cars a year,' reveals Mr McCullough in an exclusive interview recently. 'If you wanted to sell the company, this would be a great time to do it. We are at the top of our game.'

He says the big issue now is the ability to manage the business at 10,000 cars a year on a consistent basis.

'Once we are confident we don't distress the brand and we are able to maintain our exclusivity, that is the point we make the decision on what the next step for Bentley is. We are in no hurry to grow.'

By contrast, the prestigious British marque had to grow quickly to the level where it is today. The Volkswagen Group of Germany had bought the then struggling company in 1998 and since then, Bentley has introduced the hugely successful Continental GT luxury coupe and its saloon and convertible variants, the Flying Spur and GTC respectively.

'Now we are a profitable business and we are where we want to be in the market,' says Mr McCullough although he declines to give any figures.

He adds that Bentley has gained a degree of financial stability since the VW purchase.

'One of the toughest things about operating our kind of business is you have to invest massive amounts of capital in developing new products. And your payback period is both long and over relatively low volumes. So it is financially not for the faint-hearted.'

He says part of the reason Bentley had struggled under the previous ownership was that it was under-resourced. 'What they would spend developing a model, we spend developing the doors on a model now.'

That investment has certainly paid off. Mr McCullough says that since the Continental line-up was launched, 'we increased our sales volume by 1,000 per cent over three and a half years worldwide, and we went from 1,000 cars a year to 10,000'. This despite their very premium positioning.

In Singapore, the Bentley range starts from $700,000 for the Continental GT and Flying Spur models, and from $750,000 for the GTC. The ultra-luxury Arnage models start from $950,000 and they go up all the way to $1.38 million for the Azure convertible. All prices are before COE and insurance, while myriad customisation possibilities can also inflate the final price tag.

Yet, Mr McCullough believes Bentley will not have a problem selling more than 10,000 cars a year.

'We don't prejudice our exclusivity. The growth of ultra-high net worth individuals more than demonstrates the money is there to buy our product in volumes we would like to sell it.'

He says the issue is more about how attractive the car is on an ongoing basis, and how willing people are to spend their money on premium cars as opposed to other things like yachts and aeroplanes.

After all, the number of such wealthy people worldwide is growing at a rate of 8-10 per cent a year, says Mr McCullough, and quite dramatically in places like Russia and China.

But the biggest demand comes from the United States, a market which accounts for 45 per cent of total volume and which shows no sign of declining in terms of its buying power. The UK is the second largest market at about 18 per cent.

Mr McCullough says the key to Bentley's desirability is its history and the values that its founder held in terms of the way he engineered the cars.

'The heritage and history of the brand are fundamental in our customer's idea of what the brand stands for. One of the most important things in a premium brand's marketing is you have a history and that history is authentic, not written by a marketing guy.'

He says that integrity and authenticity are at the heart of the brand.

'Bentley has an attitude and a point of view. We make cars in a certain way and we will continue to make it that way.'