A new luxury SUV is born

BENTLEY CEO Wolfgang Schreiber told journalists during a recent event in London that the design of the company’s new SUV vehicle unveiled as a concept in 2012 had changed “from the side, rear and roof.”
“It is completely changed,” he said.
The new SUV is due in the markets in 2016.
The price tag would be in excess of $225,000.
No name has been selected yet for the new SUV.
The company released a first teaser photograph of the upcoming SUV based on the concept EXP 9F shown at the 2012 Geneva Auto Show.
At the time, the concept was criticized by the media because of its large grille and air intakes which reporters deemed unsuitable for an elegant luxury brand.
Schreiber admitted that “many customers and media said an SUV was a good idea, but not everybody was happy with the design at that time.”
He said: “This car will meet the expectations of Bentley customers much better than the design of two years ago.”
Bentley claims the forthcoming SUV, which will become the firm’s fourth model line, will be ”thoroughbred” Bentley with all the brand’s ”hallmarks of luxury, performance, quality and craftsmanship.”
The company is not unduly worried about media criticism as the model has already gathered at least 2000 advance orders.
Many customers eagerly await the new vehicle, which will create a totally new segment in the SUV market.
Schreiber said that it will be “the most luxurious and powerful SUV.”
The company has invested $1.33 billion in this new project and its facilities to be built over the next three years.
Schreiber doesn’t expect to have the ultra-luxury SUV segment to himself for very long though: “Competition is always good for the customer. We all know Rolls Royce is thinking about an SUV, Aston Martin is also considering one.”
There could even be some others that come along.
The success of this vehicle may prompt Rolls Royce to take the plunge into a similar venture.
Rolls Royce CEO Torsten Mueller-Otvos said in several interviews that there are no solid plans for an SUV but added that the idea may be considered depending on capacity and whether an SUV would fit into the line-up by the company.
The Bentley SUV is due to be launched in 2016.
It is key to the brand’s goal to increase annual global sales to 15,000 vehicles by 2018 from a record 10,120 last year.
Bentley’s head of sales Kevin Rose said the brand targets annual sales of 3,500 for the SUV, a similar sales volume to the Flying Spur sedan and Continental GT coupe.
He said the debut of the new SUV is likely to be at the Frankfurt Auto Show next year.
Rose is happy with the new design and says “It now looks like a Bentley. Even with no badge, you’d say it was a Bentley.”
Mechanically, the manufacturer’s 6.0-liter W12 engine will be fitted but Bentley also confirmed there will be more than one powertrain offered.
Engines would include the 12-cylinder unit currently used in the Flying Spur and Continental range, with a plug-in hybrid version due in 2017, the company said.
No decision has been made on the engine that will be mated to the battery pack.
The SUV will be based on the VW’s modular large SUV platform.
Codenamed PL37, this will also underpin the next Audi Q7.
Rose said the vehicle would be priced above luxury SUVs such as the Range Rover, which costs 160,000 euros for the most expensive model.
“The start point will sit above Range Rover,” Rose said.
“We would like to solve the problem of buyers who would like to spend more on an SUV, but currently cannot,” he said.
The biggest market for such a luxury SUV would be the US, China and the Middle East.
Rose believes a wider market exists for the SUV.
“Thirty percent of our existing customers already have a high-end SUV, so if we can convince even a small number of those into buying the car we have a very strong business case indeed.”
The plan is to sell 3,000 to 4,000 SUVs a year, which would make the new model a crucial part of Bentley’s aim to boost annual sales from 8,510 last year to 15,000 cars by 2018.
The new SUV will be built at Bentley’s plant in Crewe, where the brand will also begin building all W12 engines across the whole VW Group at the end of this year.
Previously, engines for VW and Audi were built in Germany, and Bentley envisions W12 production in Crewe increasing from around 5000 engines today to 9000 engines by around 2017.