Bentley’s first SUV will be offered with the company’s first diesel and plug-in hybrid powertrains within two years.
The move means it is likely a handful of models chosen as company cars.
Senior directors at companies with little restriction on company car choice are likely to see the appeal of an exclusive luxury 4x4.
The £160,000 Bentayga will arrive with its first customers early in 2016, powered by a 608hp 12-cylinder 6.0-litre TSI petrol engine – said to be the most efficient 12-cylinder petrol engine on sale – but the company has confirmed the model will be offered with a diesel engine late in 2016, with a plug-in hybrid variant launching in 2017.
The W12 petrol engine is almost 12% more efficient than the engine it replaces in other Bentley models, and has CO2 emissions of 292g/km – the first production Bentley below 300g/km and lower than other cars in the range powered by a 4.0-litre V8 petrol engine.
The diesel variant is expected to use a version of the 4.1-litre V8 found in the Porsche Cayenne Diesel S, and could offer CO2 emissions of around 200g/km.
The Bentayga is built on a modular platform that is also the basis for the latest Audi Q7, which will soon be offered with a plug-in hybrid variant.
Bentley will add a plug-in hybrid model to the Bentayga range in 2017, which would be expected to offer sub-100g/km CO2 emissions.
bob the engineer - 29/10/2015 08:35
Plug in hybrid? funny. As if the driver of a over half million £ car is going to plug it in to save a few £ on fuel. No doubt the battery will be just big enough to have a huge impact on the short emission test - which is probably the only time one will ever get plugged in, even so the tax saving could be very many thousands. The ultimate BIK dodger!