GREEN LIGHT FOR BENTLEY SUV

-Fourth model line to be built in Crewe
-Sales will begin in 2016
-Over 1,000 UK jobs created
-New model will be true to Bentley's brand hallmarks
-Extremely positive customer response to an SUV by Bentley

(Crewe, 23 July 2013). Bentley Motors today confirms that it will proceed with the development of the Bentley SUV, the company's fourth model line. The SUV will be made in Crewe and will go on sale in 2016. It will create over 1000 jobs in the UK. Over the next three years Bentley will invest more than £800 million in its headquarters at Crewe and the development of new models.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron, who was present together with Dr Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Volkswagen Group for the announcement at Bentley headquarters in Crewe, said: "This £800 million investment and a thousand new jobs from Bentley is fantastic news for both Crewe and for the UK as a whole. It is another important milestone in strengthening our economy.

"One sector that we know is sprinting ahead in the global race is our booming automotive industry. One vehicle rolls off a production line somewhere in the UK every 20 seconds and we have just launched the Government's Automotive Industrial Strategy to help continue this success for years to come.

"I am delighted that Bentley will be building their new vehicle here, not only creating a thousand jobs, but safeguarding many more, as well as increasing training opportunities for highly skilled apprentices."

Dr Winterkorn said: "The Volkswagen Group believes in the UK as a competitive location for industrial production. Bentley fans all around the world are looking forward to the brand's first SUV. Together we will make this new Bentley another true Bentley – powerful, exclusive and successful."

Business Secretary Vince Cable said: "This is a welcome commitment to the UK from a major international car maker. Our automotive industrial strategy proves this government's commitment to working with world-class companies like Bentley to create jobs and promote exports.

"Bentley was the first firm I visited as a government minister and serves as a real example of high value manufacturing. They export more than four out of every five cars they make in the UK to the rest of the world."

Bentley's Chairman and Chief Executive, Dr Wolfgang Schreiber, added: "This is excellent news for Bentley and for the UK. Bentley is increasingly successful and this new fourth model line will leverage the success of the global SUV market. The support of everyone involved with the Company has been fundamental to this decision, which will ensure sustainable growth for the company."

The SUV will be a thoroughbred Bentley true to the brand hallmarks of luxury, performance, quality and craftsmanship. The styling will set it apart from any other SUV on the road and will be true to the Bentley design DNA. It will be the most luxurious and most powerful SUV in the market. The response from customers to a Bentley SUV has been extremely positive in the last 16 months.

The oft-rumored Bentley SUV has arrived--albeit in concept form, as the Bentley EXP 9 F, at this week’s Geneva Motor Show.

Bentley describes the EXP 9 F, which could kick off a third model line (next to the Mulsanne and Continental ranges) for the ultra-luxury automaker, as a “compelling new take on the Grand Touring Bentley,” calling it “equally at home at an opera gala performance, on the sand dunes and the overtaking lane of the autobahn.”

With an increasingly diverse customer base, adding a high-end sport utility vehicle makes good sense to Bentley. As many Bentley owners also own SUVs from other automakers, introducing one under the Bentley brand allows the automaker to retain a higher percentage of customer business. An SUV is seen as essential in attracting buyers in developing markets, too.

The challenge was creating an SUV that exceeded customer expectations. Bentley’s director of design, Dirk van Braeckel, explains that the “EXP 9 F had to represent the absolute pinnacle of the sport utility sector, setting a new benchmark for this type of vehicle.”

Starting with a clean sheet of paper, Bentley’s designers incorporated familiar styling elements such as the matrix grille, round lamps and signature character lines. Like all Bentley models, the EXP 9 F Concept had to convey the “hewn from solid” design language that sets all Bentleys apart.

In keeping with Bentley’s “visible engineering” theme, the daytime running light apertures serve as the intakes for the W-12 engine’s charge coolers, and each sports a turbine fan design. The turbine theme is carried over to the 23-inch alloy wheels, and outback, the taillights are styled to look like the engines of a jet fighter, glowing from within and projecting light outwards.

Inside, Bentley blends luxury, technology and utility. There are the expected elements, such as wood, leather, and polished metal, but TFT “virtual” instrumentation adds a bit of contemporary functionality. Floor mats are reversible, with one side being silk wool (for city use) and the other crafted of saddle leather (for the outdoors).

Seating is 4+1, and the rear seats can be easily folded and stowed for increased cargo capacity. When in place, the seats allow users to stay connected via mounted tablet computers, and the center armrest hides a cooled compartment for champagne and glasses. Bespoke picnic baskets and a retractable awning make the EXP 9 F ideal for an afternoon in the country.

Drivers get the benefit of 3D navigation, and can choose between Comfort, Sport and Off-Road driving modes. While the concept uses Bentley’s 6.0-liter, twin-turbocharged W-12 engine mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission, both the new 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 or a future hybrid drivetrain could be used in its place.

Bentley will base a production decision on the feedback received from Geneva Show attendees. While an SUV may represent a dramatic break from tradition at Bentley, if its customers demand all-terrain capability, Bentley is happy to address their needs.

Volkswagen's big night out may have been highlighted by the Aventador J, but the other big name in VW's stable also had a reveal last night.

This is the Bentley EXP 9 F...the Bentley SUV with the face of a Mulsanne and the butt of a Range Rover.

It may have not made the best of impressions at its world premiere during the Geneva Motor Show this past March, but Bentley still wants the world to know about its EXP 9 F study, the brand's first attempt to design an SUV.

Last weekend, the thinly disguised concept made its maiden appearance on UK soil at the 2012 Goodwood Festival of Speed as part of what the company's calls "a systematic and comprehensive process of gauging customer and public reaction to the idea of a Bentley SUV".

Bentley's "customer gauging process" will continue at the 2012 Concours d’Elegance in Pebble Beach, California this August, but for now and following its UK debut, the premium carmaker has released a handful of new dynamic images and a video of the EXP 9 F, all of which you can check out for yourself by hoping over the break.

While at Pebble Beach, Bentley CEO Wolfgang Dürheimer sat down with Inside Line to elaborate on plans for the production version of its controversial EXP 9 F concept SUV. As recently as a month ago, the blue behemoth was still being talked about as if a final decision hadn't been made, Durheimer didn't appear to show any reticence when discussing what the report cited as "the 2015 production date."

The big news is that no "radical redesign" of its exterior is planned before it arrives. That could be wordplay hinging on the term "radical," since reports of a redesign surfaced the same month the EXP 9 F was revealed, and a report in Autocar last month cited Volkswagen Group sources as saying "the front and rear end styling would need to be modified" for production. On the other hand, Dürheimer told Inside Line that Bentley customers rated the looks of the SUV "only a 7 out of 10."

We're not sure if he meant the word "only" in humility or sarcasm; Dürheimer has plenty of cheek, as evidenced in his line that Bentley has "solved [the] problem" of there being no SUV on the market above the $170,000 mark.

At whatever price that ends up being, the EXP 9 F will be able to go off-road but won't be a devoted off-roader, capable enough, however, to handle Middle Eastern dunes, polo fields and yacht launches. And don't let anyone tell you that Bentley doesn't care about the help, either: the lauded interior, which isn't expected to change much for production, might get optional third-row seating for the owner's au pair. All those Swedish lasses can rest easy now.

The idea of a Bentley SUV didn’t seem all that popular with automotive journalists, following the unveiling of the questionably-styled EXP 9 F concept at the 2012 Geneva motor show, but even the people who are most familiar with the scene cannot in complete accuracy predict which models will sell and which won’t.

However, this time the tepid opinions of the journalists came in contrast with reality as Bentley confirmed that it will proceed with the development of the SUV, which will reach showrooms across the world in 2016.

That reality has it boasting 2,000 advance orders, and reportedly, two plants were in view for production: one in the UK (Crewe), and one in Slovakia (Bratislava), with Bentley opting for the former.

It’s definitely saying something, considering its not-yet-finalized styling (which will thankfully be different to that of the concept) and other important details that need to be solved, one of which is the preservation of the Bentley character in this unusual type of vehicle for the brand, but not for parent brand VW, where most of the SUV-building know-how will be coming from.

Now that they’ve officially announced the model is coming, and we will probably be inundated with teasers, spy shots and speculation the closer we get to the 2016 deadline.

The decision to build it has been made in the proper place, the Crewe factory, where it will bring about the creation of 1,000 new jobs, through an in investment in excess of $1.23 billion (£800/€931 million). It seems to please everybody, even the company’s chairman, Dr. Wolfgang Schreiber.

"This is excellent news for Bentley and for the UK. Bentley is increasingly successful and this new fourth model line will leverage the success of the global SUV market," said Schreiber in a statement. "The support of everyone involved with the Company has been fundamental to this decision, which will ensure sustainable growth for the company."

Regarding the actual vehicle, as usual, not a lot is revealed, but what they are saying is that it will be “a thoroughbred Bentley true to the brand hallmarks of luxury, performance, quality and craftsmanship. The styling will set it apart from any other SUV on the road and will be true to the Bentley design DNA. It will be the most luxurious and most powerful SUV in the market.”

he eventual arrival of Bentley's upcoming SUV in 2016 will likely prove the most pivotal new product to come from Crewe since the debut of the Continental GT in 2003. And Bentley isn't messing around.

The British automaker is taking aim directly at the Range Rover, saying that it will be just as capable off-road. That's a mighty big claim for a company that has never made an off-roader before, but comes with good reason: Bentley estimates that nearly 30 percent of its customers have a Range Rover as well, and the company is keen to take a slice of that pie.

There are, however, several elements that will elevate the Bentley Falcon (as it's expected to be called) above Range Rover territory. For starters, according to Automotive News Europe, which spoke to Bentley marketing chief Kevin Rose at the Frankfurt show, the Falcon will be more expensive. The sticker price in Europe is expected to hover around 180,000 euros – double the flagship Range Rover's starting price. It'll also be available with four-, five- and seven-seat configurations. And it'll offer more power. A lot more power.

While Bentley was previously said to be evaluating V8 and even hybrid options – which could potentially come later – the latest intel has the Falcon boasting twelve cylinders (likely in W form) in two states of tune: 575 or 650 horsepower. That'd make the base model more powerful than the 510-hp Range Rover or even the 550-horse flagship Turbo S version of the Porsche Cayenne, the replacement for which will share its platform, along with the next Audi Q7 and Lamborghini Urus.

Bentley's 4x4 will be its first model with hybrid tech, with the rest of the range to follow

Bentley has confirmed that its forthcoming SUV will be available as a plug-in hybrid in 2017, a year after the car’s launch.

The rest of Bentley’s saloon, coupé and convertible range will follow suit with hybrid versions as and when they’re due for replacement.

Bentley Chairman and Chief Executive, Dr Wolfgang Schreiber, said: “The SUV will be the first Bentley hybrid because it’s based on a new platform with new technology. You need space for batteries and the technology, so we probably won’t do that for existing models. We will see hybrid versions of all of our cars, though.”

Schreiber confirmed that the new SUV hybrid will “very likely be a plug-in”, probably using similar tech to that already found in the Porsche Panamera Hybrid and soon to find its way onto the Porsche Cayenne.

“Bentley is in a good position as part of the VW group,” said Schreiber. “With technology like hybrids you need lots of investment. Smaller companies will struggle, so it’s a good opportunity for Bentley to use synergies from the VW group. For example, batteries can be used across numerous models.”

SUV development is well on track for a 2016 launch, which means a 2015 debut. However, Schreiber confirmed that we won’t be seeing another SUV concept, following the poorly received EXP 9F concept revealed at Geneva Motor Show 2012.

“We learnt a lot from that car. The exterior was not liked by everybody so we reacted and modified the design completely. It’s now a true Bentley,” he said.

However, Bentley says it already has 2000 pre-orders based on the concept, with none of the potential owners having a clear indication of price or what the final car will look like.

According to Bentley’s sales and marketing director, Kevin Rose, the SUV will account for around 3000 sales per year, helping to push the company from its record 2013 figures of 10,120 sales towards its 2018 target of 18,000.

“For existing Bentley customers, it’ll be an additional car for 90% of them,” said Rose, “Plus new people from the top end of other SUVs and sedans.”

But although the new SUV will target top end Range Rovers – which itself will be available as a hybrid this year – and Porsche Cayenne Turbos, Wolfgang Schreiber says it’ll create a new niche: “There is no pure luxury end of the SUV market – with our car we can create a whole new segment.”

However, usability won’t be forgotten - Schreiber also said that the SUV will be the first Bentley available with a tow bar.

Bentley has released the first photo of its production SUV, scheduled to arrive in dealerships in 2016. The image only reveals the front end of the luxury model, but it’s enough to prove that designers have implemented significant modifications to the EXP-9 design study.

Just like the Continental GT, the Bentley SUV features two pairs of round headlights, with the outer headlamps being smaller. The photo doesn’t reveal anything else, except the brand’s imposing grille.

“It will be the most luxurious and powerful SUV on the market, setting it apart from any other SUV, true to the brand hallmarks of luxury, performance, quality and craftsmanship,” Bentley promises in a press release. Bentley Motors CEO, Dr. Wolfgang Schreiber, goes on to say that the new model “will create a completely new segment in the SUV market.”

Bentley says the SUV is part of a £800 million ($1.33 billion) investment in new model and facilities development in the next three years. The company expects a minimum annual sales volume of 3,000 SUVs.

No details were offered about the engine, but considering that Bentley has also announced it will become the only producer of VW Group’s 6.0-liter W12 engine from the end of 2014 onwards, it’s safe to assume the flagship Bentley SUV will be powered by a W12 unit.

Bentley expects to build up to 9,000 W12 engines a year.

Bentley's promotional machine has clicked in to gear with the British firm releasing the first video trailer on their upcoming SUV and at the same time, confirming what we already suspected on the availability of a plug-in hybrid edition, even though the as of yet unnamed series won't go into production until 2016.

The fact that Bentley is moving on with videos, leads us to believe that the company will probably reveal a pre-production concept in the coming months.

The monochrome trailer plays with lights and reflections on the SUV's body to preview its modified appearance over the original EXP-9 Concept SUV that was unveiled in 2012. From what Bentley allows us to see, most changes seem to have occurred on the SUV's front end (get a better look at it here).

When it goes on sale in 2016, Bentley's SUV will get the brand's 6.0-liter twin-turbo W12 petrol engine producing over 600-horses, with a plug-in hybrid variant to follow the next year. Bentley previewed, but did not detail, the new plug-in hybrid powertrain on a Mulsanne Concept in China just last month. However, it is widely believed that it uses a V8 bi-turbo petrol engine.