De Telegraaf is claiming it has information which reveals the name of the big SUV that Bentley is due to begin selling in 2016.
Autovisie, the Dutch newspaper’s motoring section, is carrying a report claiming Bentley’s first 4×4 will be named after Bentayga, a rock formation on Gran Canaria.
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Whatever the vehicle’s name, it will have the same architecture as the next Audi Q7, itself due to be revealed in six weeks’ time at the Detroit show.
The EXP 9 F concept was Bentley’s first public display of an SUV. This was exhibited at the Geneva show in March 2012. A month later at the Beijing show, the Volkswagen Group division announced the vehicle’s potential production engine line-up: a 500bhp 4.0-litre V8 turbo, a V6 plug-in hybrid, plus the 6.0-litre W12 from the concept.
In July 2013 came news that an SUV would be built at the Bentley Crewe plant in 2016. In February 2014, Bentley’s CEO Wolfgang Schreiber told the media that the US market was expected to account for 30% of a planned 3,000 units per annum. Pricing would start at US$190,000 in today’s terms, and the hybrid would follow in 2017.
The SUV should help lift Bentley sales towards the division’s goal of 15,000 units by 2018. In 2013, the brand’s sales totalled 10,120 cars.
