Luxury car maker Bentley Motors announced Friday its sales went up 17 percent year on year in the first quarter this year. Bentley said on Friday that the global deliveries to customers from January to March were 2,580, up from the same period last year, which were 2,212. "We continue to expand our position as the world's most sought-after luxury car brand in what remains a challenging sector. Success in our established key markets, like the United States, China, and Europe played a major role, but also growing our global presence in developing markets such as the Middle East and Asia Pacific ensured an impressive start to the year," said Kevin Rose, director of sales and marketing of Bentley. Statistics showed that the Americas region remains the number one market of Bentley cars, with an increase of 10 percent to 698 cars. While China started the year performing strongly, up by 19 percent on last year, delivering 564 cars. In Europe, deliveries grew by 12 percent to 374 cars, against 335 cars in the first quarter in 2013. Bentley said that the Middle East also continues its sustained growth, by posting an increase of 42 percent, 311 cars, over its 2013 performance, delivering 219 cars. Sales of the Flying Spur in Japan helped the region deliver 75 cars, a 60 percent increase from the same period of last year. .