Bentley is laying down the gauntlet to high-end rivals, claiming its new Bentley SUV will be "the most luxurious and most powerful SUV" when it goes on sale in 2016.
The Volkswagen-owned British brand has confirmed it will build an SUV at its Crewe headquarters in England after previewing such as model with the 2012 Bentley EXP 9F concept.
The company also announced it was investing 800,000 pounds ($1.3 million) in its Crewe HQ and the development of new models, while it will create 1000 new jobs in the UK it said.
The EXP 9F drew plenty of media criticism at its March 2012 reveal at the Geneva motor show, and Bentley admitted to CarAdvice then that it was looking to refine the final design.
Bentley says there has been an "extremely positive response" to the SUV from customers since, however.
There are few details yet, though Bentley says the SUV will remain faithful to Bentley design DNA, craftsmanship, and be the most luxurious and most powerful SUV in the market.
"This is excellent news for Bentley and for the UK," said Bentley chairman and chief executive, Dr Wolfgang Schreiber. "Bentley is increasingly successful and this new fourth model line will leverage the success of the global SUV market.
"The support of everyone involved with the Company has been fundamental to this decision, which will ensure sustainable growth for the company."
The SUV will join a Bentley range that currently comprises the Continental GT coupe, GTC convertible, Flying spur sedan and Mulsanne limo.
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The model designation should read EXP 9 WTF
JD
The last Ford Falcon will roll of production in 2016, coinciding with the Bentley Falcon starting production.
Shak
As long as it doesn't look like that monstrosity above they should sell thousands of them.
Dominique V?n Hütch
Well VAG have experience with the enormously sized, excessively powered SUV…Q7 V12 TDI comes to mind, even their small stake in Porsche could allow them to draw on the production models of Cayenne ending with the variations GTS and Turbo S. As a child/teen I always loved and idolised Bentleys…think Continental T, Azure, and the Arnage ('04 models onwards preferred) and the Brooklands released as a top line limited run model took the cake.
I always hated the new Continentals as the round land walrus design looks flabby and horrid in comparison to the mean masculine uncompromising 6 and 3/4 Eight powered models. Now the new Contis have matured and actually gained aesthetic appeal imo, and the 4 litre audi 8 is a lovely fit.
The Mulsanne is great as a successor to the Arnie and continues the tradition – This new Bentley SUV needs to differentiate itself completely design wise to the othe models, i believe, if it is to be a success. Of course it only needs to be a sales success in order to be considered as such, and fair enough…However, Bentley need to NOT go down the lines of other premium marques when adding an SUV to the lineup and trying to link the design characteristics to that of other models such as Porsche have done with the Cayenne ((poor example of this integration (yet a phenomenal money spinner)), or Maserati with their Levante (an amazing transgression of design cues and probably the best/sexiest looking SUV I've seen thus far if the pics are anything to go by).
C'mon Bentley deliver on this…mix it up, go out on a limb — think that Lagonda concept from a few years ago, You'll still sell thousands in LA, Moskva, and Shanghai so at least let the rest of us not projectile vomit when we see this thing.
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