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% increase of 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 US and China. The "luxurious" title will also match
the price; Bentley is stating that the starting price for their future
SUV will be $140,000, 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, it has also been
stated that it will be powered by the next generation W12 engine
delivering up to 600 HP. For markets like Europe, Bentley will also
offer a 6.0-liter V12 TDI engine with an output of about 500 HP. Rumors
of V8 and plug-in hybrid alternatives for future model years have also
been discussed.
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.
UPDATE 08/24/2012:
The word "big" won’t just be used to describe the future Bentley SUV’s
engine anymore as Bentley CEO Wolfgang Durheimer has stated that
potential customers of the luxury SUV would like to see a third row
option added. Interior designers for the model have stated that the
third row option isn’t for the children, but for the au pair to have a
place to sit during family trips. If Bentley approves, which is a
strong possibility, this would mean that the production model would need
to be bigger than the concept, so expect some dimensional changes to
take place. Aside from that, the Bentley SUV should somewhat follow
along the concept’s design, but with less dramatic lines, considering
that a poll of potential buyers gave the SUV a 7 out of 10 rating for
its design.
Another topic of discussion is the price
for the future luxury SUV. In the same interview, Durheimer stated,
"Currently you can’t spend more than 170,000 Euro on an SUV. We are
going to solve that problem." We don’t know about anyone else, but we
don’t really feel that is a problem. We don’t think people go car
shopping and say, "You know what, I really want to buy a luxurious SUV,
but there are just no options out there that are going to make a big
enough dent in my wallet. I wish cars were more expensive." Slash the
price on the future SUV and see how many more cars you can sell,
Bentley. Then come and tell us that not having an expensive enough SUV
is a problem. (Insideline)
