After getting so much flak when the first design of its SUV->ke145 came out, who knew that Bentley->ke15 would eventually have more than 2,000 pre-orders for the vehicle.

But somehow, probably through sheer will and determination, interest in the soon-to-arrive Falcon SUV has picked up significantly as we head toward its launch at the start of 2016. This development should be music to the ears of Bentley execs who had to deal with the backlash the EXP 9 F Concept received when it first came out in 2012.

The negative publicity forced Bentley to quickly return to the drawing board to come up with a new design, or at least something that didn't remind people of a design that the folks at Lego could've built.

With a new exterior and interior look that, according to Autocar, is more "Bentley-like," the Volkswagen->ke94 Group board is hoping that this new design is going to catch on well with the public that the EXP 9 F just couldn't do.

Interest appears to be strong with so many pre-orders of the Falcon, and if those numbers hold true, it could aid significantly in the company's target of selling 15,000 units per year by 2018. It's still has a ways to go, seeing as 2013 sales amounted to "just" 10,120 units, so you can imagine how much is riding on the Falcon SUV being a sales hit.

Click past the jump to read more about the 2016 Bentley Falcon.

2016 Bentley Falcon

Bentley's dream of building its own SUV model has turned into somewhat of a bumpy and controversial ride that began with the (mostly) negative reactions to the EXP 9 F Concept. To its credit, Bentley listened to the criticisms and decided to do something about it, redesigning the SUV to fit into the luxury car maker's image.

So we're expecting something along the lines of what Bentley stands for, and that's cause for excitement.

On the flip side, no confirmation yet on what engine the Falcon will carry, but it stands to reason that a V-8 could be in the mix and possibly a V-12. What has been divulged, though, is that a plug-in hybrid version is expected to arrive a year after the gas model launches with a diesel variant earmarked for an even later date.