The Bentley Bentayga is a mid-size, front-engine, all-wheel drive, five-door luxury crossover SUV marketed by British car manufacturer Bentley, beginning with model year 2016. Its body is manufactured at the Volkswagen Zwickau-Mosel plant, then painted by Paintbox Editions in Banbury, and finally assembled at the company's Crewe factory.
An evolution of the 2012 Bentley EXP 9 F concept car, the production Bentayga debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2015 as Bentley's first SUV — using unibody construction and full-time all-wheel drive as well as Volkswagen Group's bi-turbo W12 engine and MLB platform, the latter shared with the second-generation Audi Q7 and the third-generation Porsche Cayenne, Audi Q8, and Lamborghini Urus.
Available in seating configurations for four, five or seven, the Bentayga was claimed as SUV, which has highest top speed 187 mph (301 km/h) as well as the 2nd most expensive production SUV.
The "Bentayga" name has two origins; one comes from "Roque Bentayga", an emblematic highland rock situated in massif central Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands; the other one comes from a portmanteau of Bentley and Taiga, the world’s largest transcontinental snow forest.
Bentley's first production SUV was first previewed as the Bentley EXP 9 F concept car at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show. The concept car was based upon the Volkswagen Group MLB platform, powered by a 6.0-litre W12 engine producing 600 hp (447 kW). The production version was announced in July 2013. The Bentley EXP 9 F's design proved to be controversial, and it received a mixed response from the automobile press. After some criticism for the design of the EXP 9 F, Bentley announced that it would change the styling for the production version of the SUV, the Bentayga.
The initial design of the EXP 9 F was redesigned to achieve "more traditional SUV proportions and less retro surfacing." Almost four years after the Bentley EXP 9 F concept was unveiled, the Bentayga began production at Bentley's factory in Crewe, England.
Bentley officially unveiled the name "Bentayga" in January 2015. The name was inspired by the rugged peak of the Roque Bentayga in Gran Canaria, the subtropical Canary Island. Bentley also drew inspiration from taiga, the world’s largest transcontinental snow forest, and is composed of the first four letters of Bentley and an altered spelling of taiga. Bentayga also means "carried interest" in Swahili.
Source: Bentleymedia.com as of Jan 2018
The 2016 Bentayga was the first to receive Bentley's new twin-turbo W12 engine. Initially, the W12 was the only engine option for the Bentayga, capable of bypassing 6 cylinders if needed. The 6.0L, twin-turbo will move the Bentayga from 0–60 mph (0–97 km/h) in 4.0 seconds (0–100 km/h (0–62 mph) in 4.1 s) all the way up to 187 mph (301 km/h). The Speed version gets 0-60 mph time of 3.8 seconds (0-100 km/h in 3.9 seconds) all the way up to 190 mph (306 km/h).
Starting in 2017, the Bentayga received an additional powertrain: a diesel V8 derived from the Audi diesel V8. The diesel engine (in production since February 2017) is Bentley's first-ever diesel, and the Bentayga is likely to be the only Bentley offered with a diesel powertrain. A Bentayga Diesel is spotted by either the optional badge on the front wing, or the trapezoid quad exhaust tips. The 4.0L, twin-turbo will move the Bentayga from 0–60 mph (0–97 km/h) in 4.6 seconds (0–100 km/h (0–62 mph) in 4.8 s) all the way up to 168 mph (270 km/h).
The Bentayga V8 became available in 2018, with a focus on "Power, luxury, usability and sportiness". The V8 version will have a lower MSRP than the W12. The 4.0L, twin-turbo will move the Bentayga from 0–60 mph (0–97 km/h) in 4.4 seconds (0–100 km/h (0–62 mph) in 4.5 s) all the way up to 180 mph (290 km/h).
Bentley has officially confirmed the Bentayga will be Bentley's first production plug-in hybrid using a petrol engine mated to several electric motors and a lithium-ion battery that should deliver around 31 miles of all-electric range. As previewed by the Bentley Mulsanne Hybrid concept car, as well as the Bentley EXP 10 Speed 6 concept, the plug-in hybrid will likely have copper accents and trim along the veneers in the interior and on the outside of the vehicle; as well as copper-colour contrast stitching in the interior.
The W12 Bentayga has a top speed of 187 mph (301 km/h) and can go from 0–60 mph (0–97 km/h) in 4.0 seconds. The manufacturer self-proclaimed the vehicle to be the world's fastest production SUV in 2016. The Bentayga uses a 48 volt electrical system to control its electrically controlled active anti-roll bar (EWAS), which helps the heavy SUV reduce body roll.
Originally slated by Volkswagen to be produced at the Volkswagen Bratislava Plant in Slovakia, the factory where all other models based on the platform are produced, an agreement was reached with the British Government for the model to be produced at the Crewe factory. Bentley has invested £800 million in a new facility in Crewe and hired 1,000 new employees to meet the demand for 3,000–4,000 SUVs per year.
Although production of the Bentayga was moved to Crewe, initially production of the Bentayga's body shell remained at the Bratislava facility. Body shell production was moved to Volkswagen's Zwickau-Mosel plant at the end of 2016.
608 "First Edition" units were manufactured upon introduction of the Bentayga, of which 75 were allocated to be sold in the US market.
Bentley's original prediction for 2016 was that 3,500 Bentaygas would be sold. When the entire production volume for the year sold out in advance, production was increased and resulted in 5,586 units being sold. These additional 1,500 units were also reserved by buyers in advance. The Bentayga had an order backlog that stretched into 2017; in some markets, the Bentayga was sold out for the next two years.
The Bentley Bentayga, despite its high price tag, was an unprecedented sales success for Bentley in 2016 and Bentley's most popular model.
Some seats had not been secured properly during assembly, and Bentley issued a recall for 378 cars in November 2016.
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