Friday, August 12, 2011

Bentley: official confirmation for the SUV, diesel engines and hybrid

During a dinner with British journalists that took place last night at the headquarters in Crewe, Wolfgang Dürheimer, a number of Bentley has confirmed many plans for the future of the house. First and foremost that of a luxury SUV market expected for 2014. The all-wheel drive model has even been called a "priority" by the manager.

The SUV is not the only rabbit in the cylinder Dürheimer: the Bentley has to at least three other major projects for the future of the house. The subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group aims to expand its product offering with unpublished diesel and hybrid. The Bentley SUV, known internally as Project BY736, cousins born on the same architecture of the Volkswagen Touareg, Audi Q7 and Porsche Cayenne next generation.


The platform, according to the advances of Car, will cut at least 200 kg of the weight of current models. And most will be able to sleep right now its diesel engines and hybrid which we did mention previously. "I am convinced that if we were able to offer a sport utility with the same level of care of our other models, we would be in a position to have a commercial success in our hands.

The SUV can be our most successful international model: Porsche has doubled its volumes with the Cayenne, "said the manager. The final ok from Wolfsburg should arrive later this year. From that time until the commercial launch, according to estimates by Dürheimer, will spend about three years.

Before the crisis, Bentley was able to sell 10,000 cars a year. With the new model, according to, you can reach 30,000 units, without having to dilute the prestige of the brand. As for the appearance dell'offroad English Dürheimer merely say that the volumes will have a "shooting-brake the five-door." Obviously, in terms of equipment, the Bentley can not miss anything, but given the sporty lines and approach "asphalt", you will have to give up something in terms of space and off-road performance.

The sharing of components with the VW SUV, Porsche and Audi will be very high: there are a percentage between 60 and 75%. Suspension, steering, brakes, electronics and the engine range will be completely shared between the four models. Individual platforms will differ substantially in size.

As mentioned previously, the engine range will be expanded to include plug-in hybrid drive, which will be combined with the eight-speed automatic transmission. The basis for this engine is the 4.0 twin-turbo V8 to debut on the next Continental GT. By defining a "mistake" to focus on the strategy biocaburanti, Dürheimer said that this road will be completely abandoned in favor of investments in the diesel.

But what will be the diesel unit that will debut on the Bentley? Probably the most prestigious VW currently available: the 5.9 V12 TDI that debuted in recent years on audio Q7. The British home even so emphasize his loyalty to the twelve-cylinder, which survive in the future despite the wave of novelty.

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