Bentley Bentayga

Bentley EXP 9 F

Bentley's first production SUV was first previewed as the Bentley EXP 9 F concept car at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show. The car was based upon the Volkswagen Group MLB platform, powered by a 6.0-litre W12 engine producing 600 hp. The production version was announced in July 2013. The Bentley EXP 9 F's design proved to be controversial, and it received a mixed response from the automobile press. After some criticism for the design of the EXP 9 F, Bentley announced that it would change the styling for the production version of the SUV, the Bentayga.

Bentayga's Development

The initial design of the EXP 9 F was redesigned to achieve a more attractive look for the Bentayga.

As the demand of luxury SUVs and crossovers soared over the past decades, Bentley executives decided that they needed to create their own vehicle to compete with the Range Rover, Porsche Cayenne and other high-end luxury SUVs on the market. The hope was that—similar to what happened at Bentley's sister-brand Porsche, with the launch of the Cayenne—the Bentayga would become the company's most popular model and create a new revenue stream. The Bentayga would help Bentley reach its goal of 20,000 vehicles sold each year by 2020 and serve as a volume model, especially popular in the United States, China, the Middle East, Russia and the United Kingdom.

Almost four years after the Bentley EXP 9 F concept was unveiled, the Bentayga began production at Bentley's historic factory in Crewe, England.

Name

Bentley officially unveiled the name "Bentayga" in January 2015. The name was inspired by Taiga, the world’s largest transcontinental snow forest, and is composed of the first four letters of Bentley and an altered spelling of Taiga. Bentley also drew inspiration from the rugged peak of the Roque Bentayga in Gran Canaria, the subtropical Canary Island. Bentayga also means "carried interest" in Swahili.

W12

The 2016 Bentayga will be the first to receive Bentley's new twin-turbo W12 engine. Initially, the W12 will be the only engine option for the Bentayga, capable of bypassing a cylinder row, if needed. The 6.0l, twin-turbo will have an estimated 600 hp (608 PS; 447 kW) and 664 lb·ft (900 N·m) of torque and will move the Bentayga from 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) in under 4.1 seconds.

V8, Diesel and V8 Plug-In Hybrid

Starting in 2017, the Bentayga will have four powertrain options, the W12 currently available, a V8 that is derived from the V8 used in the Continental GT, a diesel V8 derived from the Audi diesel V8, and a plug-in hybrid using the same petrol V8 as in the Continental mated to several electric motors and a lithium-ion battery that should deliver around 31 miles of all-electric range. The diesel engine will be Bentley's first-ever diesel, and the Bentayga is likely to be the only Bentley offered with a diesel powertrain.

Bentley has officially confirmed the 2017 Bentayga will be Bentley's first production plug-in hybrid, while company executives have stated in interviews that the Bentayga would also get a diesel engine. As previewed by the Bentley Mulsanne Hybrid concept car, as well as the Bentley EXP 10 Speed Six concept, the plug-in hybrid will likely have copper accents and trim along the veneers in the interior and on the outside of the vehicle; as well as copper-colour contrast stitching in the interior.

The V8 version will have a lower MSRP than the W12, as will the diesel and plug-in powertrains. The V8 will be released 2018, while the plug-in hybrid and diesel will be released in 2017

The 8-speed transmission splits torque with 60% to rear, and 40% to front.

Performance

The W12 Bentayga will have a top speed of 187 mph (301 km/h). The Bentayga is the world's fastest production SUV. The Bentley Bentayga can go from 0-60 in 4.0 seconds. The Bentayga uses a 48 volt electrical system to control its electronically controlled active anti-roll bar (EWAS), which helps the heavy SUV reduce body roll.

Production

Originally slated by Volkswagen to be produced at the Volkswagen Bratislava Plant in Slovakia, the factory where all other models based on the platform are produced, an agreement was reached with the British Government for the model to be produced at the Crewe factory. Bentley has invested £800 million in a new facility in Crewe and hired 1,000 new employees to meet the demand for 3,000–4,000 SUVs per year.

Although production of the Bentayga was moved to Crewe, production of the Bentayga's body shell remains at the Bratislava facility.

A total of 608 units will be made for the first edition, 75 of them to be sold in the US market.

Bentley predicted that 3,500 Bentaygas would be sold in 2016. When the entire production volume for the year sold out in advance, production was increased to 5,000 units. These additional 1,500 units were also reserved by buyers in advance. The Bentayga has an order backlog that stretches into 2017; in some markets, the Bentayga is sold out for the next two years.

The Bentley Bentayga, despite its high price tag, has been an unprecedented sales success for Bentley and is now by far Bentley's most popular model.

Some seats had not been secured properly during assembly, and Bentley issued a recall for 378 cars in November 2016.

Mulliner

Mulliner is Bentley's internal customization company, which creates bespoke and limited-edition options and accessories for Bentley vehicles, including the Bentayga. Mulliner is also involved in the extensive amount of customization available in Bentaygas.

A customer who orders the Bentley Bentayga is able to customize the Bentayga to their specifications quite extensively, and buyers can choose custom paint, hide, and carpet colours, and can even create their own custom colours.

Further variants

Bentley has confirmed that there is a strong possibility that a Supersports version of the Bentayga will be launched within the next few years, which will use the same W12 engine but tuned to deliver more horsepower and torque,similar to the Continental GT Supersports.

Additionally, a second SUV which will be like a coupé version of the Bentayga, slightly similar to the BMW X6, will be launched in 2017 or 2018, prior to the launch of the production model of the EXP 10 Six Speed concept. This second SUV will use a body that is derived from the Bentayga, but it will feature more aggressive styling, be more on-road biased, and have a more powerfully-tuned W12 engine.

Marketing

Soon after it was announced that Bentley had begun developing a production SUV, the company promoted the Bentayga by printing the official URL on the side of the early camouflaged test cars to leverage the press coverage by automotive photographers.