Bentley's->ke15 first-ever SUV has already amassed no fewer than 4,000 preorders, with the model just recently being christened, but the British luxury carmaker doesn't want to stop with the Bentayga. According to Top Gear's Paul Horrell, who recently had a chat with Bentley CEO Wolfgang Duerheimer, the luxury SUV already has a brother on the drawing board, with two distinct options being carefully weighed by the company.
One of them is another Bentley standalone model to complement the Continental->ke3108 Coupe and Cabrio, the Flying Spur,->ke1657 Mulsanne->ke3495 and the upcoming Bentayga SUV. The other option would be another derivative of the SUV, with Horrell suggesting that a coupe version of the model may get the go-ahead. Duerheimer was coy about details, but did suggest that the second SUV would be more likely because of market demand. "The growing segment is SUVs. Convertibles are going down. Sports cars are going down. Saloons too." the Bentley boss told Top Gear.
That said, any other details about Bentley's near-future products would be pure speculation, but what is known for sure is that the brand's first SUV is coming at the end of 2015, with market launch to take place at the beginning of 2016. Whether the Bentayga will also get a five-door-coupe version to create its own micro-niche in the $200,000+ segment remains to be seen.
Click past the jump to read more about Bentley's SUV plans.
Why it matters
With just about every carmaker out there jumping on the crossover/SUV bandwagon, the market is bound to be crowded with SUVs at almost every price point in the upcoming years. Models like the Bentley Bentayga or the rumored Mercedes-Maybach GLS will be the only ultra-luxury SUVs out there, at least at first, so it's no wonder that Bentley may consider another version of its model just to further increase its market share in this segment.With the British luxury brand already trying to get a better foothold in several global markets where expensive SUVs are the norm, a sportier-looking Bentayga would probably increase the lineup's prestige in the eyes of some of its customers.