Tuesday 13th January 2015

Bentley ... Bentayga? [Updated]

Bentley's long awaited/feared SUV officially named ... hang on, what?! [Updated with spy pics]

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Amid the excitement of the Ford GT, flat-plane cranked GT350R Mustang and - finally! - arrival of the production intent Honda NSX you'll have to forgive us for not noticing Bentley's much hyped SUV has been officially named. And the chosen moniker? Bentayga. Say it again. Bentayga. Still no?

Bentley's only official pic of the Bentayga

Over to the accompanying press release in an attempt to find the official explanation. "The natural world, along with the company's founder, inspired its name," it says. "Crowning the Northern Hemisphere, to the north of Bentley's birthplace in England, is the dramatic beauty of the Taiga, the world's largest transcontinental snowforest. To the south, the rugged peak of the Roque Bentayga in the subtropical Canary Islands draws attention from all directions and a challenging climb rewards with spectacular panoramic views of a rich and diverse landscape."

That's cleared up then. In Bentley's defence naming cars is a thankless task - Pajero anyone? - and, like Jaguar, it's clearly decided the arrival of an SUV/crossover in a traditional saloon and coupe-based line-up requires a standalone and standout title. Bentayga. No...

Cleverly disguised mule has been spotted though

Bentley's boss Wolfgang Durheimer has a (slightly) more businesslike way of putting it. "Bentayga is a name that reflects what we know our SUV will do better than any other car in the world - combine the best automotive luxury with outstanding performance to take the Bentley experience to new environments."

New environments that, tellingly in the accompanying testing video, include a bit of dune bashing. Now to our minds this should necessitate a turbo or turbos so large there isn't room for them in the engine bay and a vertical, flame spitting exhaust that'd put a steam locomotive's smoke stack to shame. A bit like this.

Clearly Gulf state customers are going to make up a significant proportion of the Bentayga's target audience so we can only hope. Sounds good though, we'll give it that. And we'll see it in final production form later this year, sales kicking off in 2016.

Dune bashing in the Bentayga

Spy photos: S. Baldauf/SB-Medien

[MrTappets]

I could get used to it. Better than F-Pace, at any rate...

[mrclav]

My Lord - what have they done!? lol

[MyCC]

Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue does it? And when compared to past/current names like Continental, Brooklands, Mulsanne, Arnage, Turbo R it sounds positively awful.

Regards,

MyCC.

[Bloitus]

Can't pronounce it... keep saying Bentley Bentover.

[Dan Trent]

Just had the PR chap on the phone on an unrelated matter and asked him for the officially approved pronunciation - it's 'Ben-tay-gah' in case you were wondering. I was!

HTH...

Dan

[benters]

Did Ali G get asked to name the Jalopy ?

[muppet42]

The line..."see what I did there...Bent-ayga...Bentayga...no...anyone...? Anyone at all...?" comes to mind during the board meeting. I feel for the person who had to come up with that marketing blurb explaining it. Or rather glossing over the fact they couldn't think of a good name. It'll sell in droves.

[TooMany2cvs]

Toyota, after the success of the iQ/Aston Cygnet, are entering a similar tie-up...

[ajprice]

TooMany2cvs said:

Toyota, after the success of the iQ/Aston Cygnet, are entering a similar tie-up...

Bent Aygo?

[mrRush]

There must be a competition between Jag and Bentley for stupidest name, maybe RR will be next with the Rollmop.

[Triumph Man]

Dan Trent said:

Just had the PR chap on the phone on an unrelated matter and asked him for the officially approved pronunciation - it's 'Ben-tay-gah' in case you were wondering. I was!

HTH...

Dan

Ben-tay-GASH more like.

Or is it Bo selecta's Michael Jackson's Bentley?

"Cruising in mah Bentay Chamon"

Edited by Triumph Man on Tuesday 13th January 11:21

[Dan Trent]

ajprice said:

TooMany2cvs said:

Toyota, after the success of the iQ/Aston Cygnet, are entering a similar tie-up...

Bent Aygo?

Dan

[Jader1973]

I just see Bentgaya whenever I read it.

[RobinBanks]

Dan Trent said:

Just had the PR chap on the phone on an unrelated matter and asked him for the officially approved pronunciation - it's 'Ben-tay-gah' in case you were wondering. I was!

HTH...

Dan

Why would you wonder that?
Did you not read it before asking him?

[edinph]

Clearly no gay men on that naming committee! Oh, you have to laugh!

[oldtimer2]

Dan Trent said:

Just had the PR chap on the phone on an unrelated matter and asked him for the officially approved pronunciation - it's 'Ben-tay-gah' in case you were wondering. I was!

HTH...

Dan

No it does not help at all. It is as bad as if not worse than F-Pace.

[aarondbs]

Dan Trent said:

ajprice said:

TooMany2cvs said:

Toyota, after the success of the iQ/Aston Cygnet, are entering a similar tie-up...

Bent Aygo?

Dan

Indeed!! Excellent

[Slurms]

Bent Tiger, erm really...

[JonRB]

Sniff Petrol already on the case.

SniffPetrol said:

After announcing this week that its forthcoming SUV with be called the Bentayga, Bentley has revealed name changes for the rest of its model range, starting with the Mulsanne which will be re-badged the Benderspza.

‘I’ve thought of new names for all of them,’ giggled Bentley branding boss Jake Wilson, aged 7. ‘The Continental is going to be Smellygyalord and instead of Speed, all the fast ones will be called Spnukface.’

‘Also, I’ve renamed the factory. Now all our cars are built in Pewbe,’ Master Wilson added. ‘Ha ha ha. You have a girl’s bag and you once called a teacher “mum”.’

‘Bentayga is a perfectly good name for our SUV,’ insisted Bentley spokesman Richard Head, defensively. ‘At least it’s better than the Jaguar PISS-FLAP.’

http://sniffpetrol.com/2015/01/13/back-to-school-f...

(I'm surprised nobody has posted a link already)

[alexnaderinkram]

It mentions the Taiga forest in the article. Bentley Taiga. That would have been a much better name.