British luxury car maker Bentley Motors entered the SUV segment with its first vehicle, the Bentayga in 2015. Despite being one of the most controversial Bentleys ever launched, the company is expected to deliver around 5,600 units of Bentayga by the end of 2016, well beyond the expectation of 3,600 units. Buoyed by the positive response, the Crewe-based car maker plans to add more variants of its SUV.
The iterations in consideration are a long wheel base (LWB) version, coupe and a high-performance version reports Autocar. The LWB version is reportedly already in development and it is targeted for sales in Middle East and Chinese market. The success of Mulsanne extended wheel base (EWB) model in these regions has given confidence for Bentley Motors to work on Bentayga LWB.
The Bentayga coupe project is yet to get green signal from Volkswagen Group board. If the project gets go ahead, it will enter market around 2019. The launch would coincide with the facelift of the standard Bentayga. The coupe version will retain four-door body style similar to regular version while rear-end will be retouched for a sloping roofline and sharper design. "I'm confident that it will happen and our team is working on the case for this car, but it is not yet approved for production," said Bentley CEO Wolfgang Durheimer. "We are the first in the luxury SUV space and at the moment unopposed, but there are lots of rivals coming to the sector. The question we need to answer as if there is space for all these different body styles," he added.
The high performance version will be limited for production just like the Bentley Continental GT3-R. It will be pitted against high performance SUVs such as the Range Rover Sport SVR. The 6.0-litre twin-turbocharged W12 engine developing 600bhp and 900Nm will be re-tuned for higher output. Regular Bentayga sprints 0-100kmph in just 4.1 seconds and has a top speed of 301kmph. These figures will also have changes in the high performance version.
