Bentley's luxury SUV to be ready by 2016

It has been nearly a year since Bentley unveiled the EXP 9 F Concept SUV at the Geneva Motor Show in 2012. The ultra-luxury SUV is Bentley's answer to the Lamborghini Urus (which is expected to hit the roads after 2015).

Since then, there have been many rumors doing the rounds on the production prospect of the SUV. The first came in the form of a possible name for the car. It is believed that Bentley would use the name 'Falcon' for the SUV (try saying 'I drive a Bentley Falcon' and it sounds pretty cool!). We can sense some eyebrows raising at Ford's marketing office.

The next rumor we heard was that the car would be getting completely redesigned from the ground up. The main reason for this being that the design did not go down all to well with potential clients, and that led Bentley's new chief designer Luc Donckerwolke to visit the drawing board.

However, the biggest news we receive is that the SUV could hit the showrooms within the next three years according to Bentley CEO Wolfgang Schreiber. In an interview with Automotive News Europe, he also said that it would share a lot of bits with Audi, VW and Porsche.

When asked about the styling, he confirmed that it would be different-

The main intention was not to show the final styling but to get feedback from the market. If you saw the styling, you would say, That is a real Bentley.

An 8-cylinder engine with an optional W12 would make their way under the hood of the car, he said.

With the Falcon's main competitor - The Lambo Urus - going into production about the same time, the world of über SUV's have opened up!

[Source - Europe.Autonews.com]