Bentley’s first SUV, the Bentayga, has not reached dealerships yet and the luxury car manufacturer is already thinking about giving it a smaller brother.
Engineering boss Rolf Frech has admitted that a smaller SUV than the Bentayga remains “a possibility.” There are two reasons for which Bentley is contemplating a second SUV. There’s obviously the sales potential of such a model, but also the fact that it wouldn’t be very costly to build.
That’s because Bentley could easily adapt VW Group’s new MSB architecture, which will underpin the next-generation Continental GT coupé and Speed 6 sports car, to the format of an SUV.
Still, as Frech told Autocar, no decision has been made yet. Even if it did, the final result may be “a different kind of car.” He didn’t elaborate, but a sporty crossover like the BMW X6 should not be ruled out. “This derivative is definitely one of the ideas we have, but our store of ideas gets bigger and bigger,” Bentley CEO Wolfgang Dürheimer aswered when asked about a smaller SUV.
Bentley executives are keen to get a piece of the luxury SUV pie, since the market for SUVs is expanding “three times faster than the market as a whole,” according to Bentley CEO.
He said the Bentayga SUV may exceed previous predictions of annual sales of 3,000 units, as the company already has 4,000 serious “expressions of interest” in the big SUV. Bentley’s goal is to build 20,000 cars a year by 2020, which is why it is spending £280 million this year on a new R&D center, as well as adding 300 new jobs to its workforce.
Note: Bentley Bentayga development prototype pictured, Photo Credits: CarPix for CarScoops
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