2017 Bentley SUV
Ultra-luxury brands beware, another one of your comrades is falling down
the shame spiral and building a - gasp - SUV!
Sure that’s a little dramatic, but so are all of the people that are
scoffing at the fact that Bentley has now confirmed a new SUV scheduled
to hit their lineup sometime in 2015. If everyone remembers correctly,
these are the same people that were horrified that Porsche decided to
build the Cayenne and look how well that turned out for them.
Now, with a 37-percent increase in sales in 2011 (to 7,003 vehicles
sold), Bentley is looking to double this number by the time this new SUV
comes out by making it "the world’s most luxurious 4x4" SUV and
targeting growing SUV markets like the U.S. and China. The "luxurious"
title will also match the price; rumors point to the starting price for
this future SUV coming in at $271,000, making the $48,200 starting price
of the Porsche Cayenne look like it belongs on a Kia Sportage.
So, what constitutes the jumbo price tag? Other than the supposedly
tremendous amount of luxury built into the future SUV, rumors are
swirling that a V-8 twin-turbocharged engine would be the standard
powerplant and a W-12 engine is a possible option.
Bentley is taking a big step with its improving sales by giving an SUV a
chance to flourish. Does the world need a strong competitor for the
Porsche Cayenne? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean that high-end
customers with deep pockets won’t be writing out checks for a chance to
wallow in the luxurious nature promised by Bentley.
