By FORREST CARDAMENIS
September 10, 2015
British automaker Bentley Motors has announced full details for its Bentayga model, the brand’s long-awaited entry into the SUV market.
The Bentayga is Bentley’s first SUV and is being billed as the fastest and most powerful vehicle in its class on the market, topping out at 187 mph and able to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 4 seconds, a speed comparable to many of Porsche’s recent Carrera models. The blend of power and performance with Bentley’s trademark style and craftsmanship will likely be a hit with affluent consumers who need a larger vehicle.
“There is a somewhat limited selection of ultra luxury/performance SUVs and there is room for growth in this segment,” said Brett Levine, cofounder of Drive Anything, Huntingdon Valley, PA. There is a growing portion of car buying public/demographic looking for this type of vehicle.”
Mr. Levine is not associated with Bentley, but agreed comment as an industry expert.
Bentley was unable to comment.
Bentayga bonanza
Accompanying the announcement on the model’s Web site is a 360-degree video that puts the viewer in the passenger seat for a test drive. During the video, viewers can use their mouse or arrow keys to look around the vehicle or watch the scenery from different windows.
After the test drive is complete, the viewer is taken to a media hub, where they can click on different parts of the car, from the seats to the radio to the trim, to launch a video detailing different aspects of the car.
Bentley Bentayga overview video
Specifically, viewers can get an overview or learn about the chassis, on-board technology, new W12 engine, the vehicle’s customizability, style/design, testing and craftsmanship. The videos include interviews, animations, sketches and performance footage alongside a written list of key points.
“The latest multimedia and video technology helps to aid the potential customer in visualizing what their personal choices may be by having a clearer picture of how the vehicle will look,” Mr. Levine said. “This in turn may help the customer make a better educated decision as well as a more efficient one.”
Among the Bentayga’s key selling points are eight different drive settings to allow optimal safety and performance despite surface and road conditions; predictive adaptive cruise control, with which the car will maintain a set distance away from a leading vehicle as well as utilize navigation data and sensors to predict curves, turns and speed-limit changes and adjust accordingly; a radar that detects and relays to the driver crossing vehicles while backing out of a parking space; a program that will park the car in detected available spots both parallel and perpendicular; and a 4G and WiFi-enabled tablet for backseat passengers.
The Bentayga has been previewed extensively, having first been unveiled in the summer of 2013. The lengthy rollout can likely be attributed partly to the vehicle’s thorough testing. To ensure great performance in all conditions, the SUV has been tested on five continents in a variety of weather and road conditions, from -22° F to 122° F desert heat and on mud fields, sand dunes and dirt and gravel roads from England to Africa and India.
Safety advances were also made, including a system to counteract lateral rolling, an issue inherent in large, heavy vehicles.
An SUV allows Bentley to reach a consumer subset that it could not before, namely the sportier consumers who enjoy skiing, camping or dirt-biking. To capitalize in the market, Bentley is offering lifestyle packages with the vehicle, special add-ons unique to the consumer’s interest, such as wet gear stowage or a load-assist tray for surfers and enthusiasts of other watersports.
Luxury SUVs
Other luxury brands are also infiltrating the SUV market.
In May, British automaker Aston Martin and Italian automaker Lamborghini announced their extended production plans for crossover vehicles.
The Italian government, in an attempt to create jobs, offered Lamborghini a tax break to jumpstart production of its Urus SUV, first announced in 2012, and Aston Martin had raised the funds needed to start production of its GT crossover based on the DBX concept. Demand from affluent consumers who have flocked to other luxury SUVs has accelerated production plans from many brands (see story).
Bentley’s big announcement has been a long-time coming, with a long campaign that has at times seen opposition.
Bentley Motors had been teasing its highly anticipated Bentayga for nine months with different images and video clips that showed a little bit of its design, but the brand’s big reveal was also threatened by other sources.
The British automaker began its teasing about one-and-a-half years prior to the release of the 2016 model and had been trying to build the anticipation for the release by revealing morsels of information at a time, but automotive news outlets spotted the car on road tests and released their own images. When media sources jump ahead of marketing plans, brands must be able to adjust intentions accordingly (see story).
“Although there was some considerable turnaround time from vision to realization, I believe that demand will outstrip the supply of what they initially produce,” Mr. Levine said.
Final Take
Forrest Cardamenis, editorial assistant on Luxury Daily, New York
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