Bentley is currently hard at work creating its first ever luxury SUV and the car promises to not only be the most luxurious on the market, but could potentially be the fastest. In recent months, a number of teasers for the forthcoming SUV have been released but we still remain in the dark about what the car could be called.
However thanks to a new report from Autovisie, the Bentley SUV could be called the Bentayga after it has emerged that the British marque recently registered the name. That name refers to a rock formation on Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands.
Of course the fact that the Bentayga name has been registered doesn’t mean it will be featured on an entirely new model. In fact, it could be fixed onto an existing Bentley model to denote a special edition. If it is the Bentley SUV however, here is what we know about the car.
Both V8 and W12 variants of the Bentley SUV will be offered with a plug-in hybrid version of the V8 to be made available a year after the car launches. There is also a possibility that a diesel driven derivative could be offered but a final decision on that won’t come before the end of this year. If a diesel is given the go ahead, the Bentley SUV will make use of Audi’s 4.2-litre V8 TDI also set to be used by the next-generation Porsche Cayenne.
While the Bentley SUV V8 plug-in hybrid will likely come at a premium over the other models, it is anticipated to be the best-selling version. As a matter of fact, during recent market research, Bentley discovered that almost 30 per cent of interested buyers would opt for a hybrid version.
With the massive W12 under the bonnet, Bentley sales and marketing director Kevin Rose recently said it is a key objective of the SUV project to make it the fastest SUV on the road. If that is to be achieved, it’ll have to top the Porsche Cayenne Turbo S’ sprint to 96 km/h (60 mph) in just 4.3 seconds!
[Via Autoblog]
