RE: Bentley Bentayga - the designer's view: PH Blog

[Dan Trent]

PhantomPH said:

Article said:

So what does the bloke who designed the Bentayga think of the PH comments thread that followed our review?

I'm still waiting - as far as I can tell the headline question is not addressed anywhere in the article itself. Is this part 1 of a 2-parter????

(ETA: I feel like I'm giving Dan Trent a lot of heat these days, but really Dan - sometimes you don't help yourself )

What, you want the full email transcript?

It was in the course of conversation but - as described in the blog - let's just say he was pragmatic about the tone of the conversation and, I thought, commendably thick skinned. Far milder things have been said on PH that have elicited much more excitable responses from manufacturers and I thought fair play to him - he's satisfied he's created something the customers like and is willing to take it on the chin from those who aren't so keen. I realise you probably DO want the full email transcript but the point I wanted to make was that for all the fire aimed specifically at the designers in the case of the Bentayga they are, as a breed, tougher than many credit.

And the point someone made about the transition from designer's dream to production reality is one I'd have liked to have made more of too - some of the figures quoted for making just small changes to stitching, the costs of engineering something like a new steering wheel, etc... all run into the tens of millions. A case of picking your battles. So for someone like Darren you'll accept perhaps that switch or HMI isn't quite as you'd like for the ability to do the big picture stuff like the winged dash which - unusually - is actually bigger than the door aperture through which it is inserted. No, not sure how that works either but a case of a battle he won for design over the production costs and realities.

Cheers,

Dan

[corcoran]

Given that Bentley are.. the last(?).. luxury car maker to the 4x4 game, this is a stunning job. Follows Bentley's design principals, some lovely tweaks. Great stuff.

The fella who gave it that name though, shoot him.

[chris_speed]

Fair play to him on the career change. Not too surprised at the Bentayga's looks given his wardrobe.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darren_Day

[J4CKO]

chris_speed said:

Fair play to him on the career change. Not too surprised at the Bentayga's looks given his wardrobe.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darren_Day

You know what, I bet he hasnt heard all that before !

[Roy C]

When I first heard the name Bentayga, I thought Bo Selecta!

And I was right, it would be the perfect car for Leigh Francis' Jacko: "Chamone, bhes and come take a ride in my Bentay!

Edited by Roy C on Wednesday 25th November 13:02

[rhinochopig]

These monstrosities are what happens if the design brief is to - come hell or high water - shoehorn the entire front aesthetic of the current model range onto the next model.

It happened with the cayenne and it's happened here. For me it shows a total lack of imagination on the part of the designer - or a marketing team with too much influence.

Yes they will sell because of the marque, but one has to wonder whether a more resolved design would sell better; one that uses more subtle aesthetic cues to identify it as being from a specific manufacturer.

[PhantomPH]

Dan Trent said:

PhantomPH said:

Article said:

So what does the bloke who designed the Bentayga think of the PH comments thread that followed our review?

I'm still waiting - as far as I can tell the headline question is not addressed anywhere in the article itself. Is this part 1 of a 2-parter????

(ETA: I feel like I'm giving Dan Trent a lot of heat these days, but really Dan - sometimes you don't help yourself )

What, you want the full email transcript?

It was in the course of conversation but - as described in the blog - let's just say he was pragmatic about the tone of the conversation and, I thought, commendably thick skinned. Far milder things have been said on PH that have elicited much more excitable responses from manufacturers and I thought fair play to him - he's satisfied he's created something the customers like and is willing to take it on the chin from those who aren't so keen. I realise you probably DO want the full email transcript but the point I wanted to make was that for all the fire aimed specifically at the designers in the case of the Bentayga they are, as a breed, tougher than many credit.
Dan

Not at all - I just hoped for an actual answer to the question you posed yourself at the top of the article....which you have now provided!

All internet jibing aside, I do think that designers have it tough these days. Designing to meet a budget and increasing regulations, is tough in itself - but it also has to be designed for the demographic you are targeting.

I think it's perhaps easier for your chap to think to himself, "Well that's ok - because none of the people in that forum are the target demographic". It's easier to remove yourself from that feedback when you decide that it's not actually coming from your customers.

I suspect they are not out to sell bucket loads of these cars in the same way that a Cayenne did for Porsche or even the F-Pace is for Jag. If this was the designer of the Jag and we were ripping it a new one, I suspect he would be a lot less affable. Because we ARE the potential customers.

The bottom line is that even if I was worth all the tea in China, I still wouldn't drop 200,000 sheets on this car. Not whilst the Range Rover and associated SVO division exists.

[TP321]

Badged Engineering at its worst!! Take an Audi Q7 and stick some Bentley badges on it..and throw in a new interior. This would normally work (as it does across the VAG group) but this car just isnt big or impossing enough to wear the Bentley badge!! They needed to get a Range Rover and then stick on that the bentley badge not an Audi. Very poor effort especially for £230k with spec!!!!

[tubs]

If the Griswolds won the lottery an were planning a "Middle Easter Vacation" then this would surely be the Family Truckster of choice

[diluculophile]

I stand by my comments on the original thread - It's not pretty (understatement), and I'd be embarrassed to be seen in one. That said, I do think that Bentley have done their market research very well and are set to produce a vehicle which will sell very well in it's intended market. I don't expect to see many of these on UK roads, because I don't think this should appeal to many UK buyers.
Reviews of actually driving the thing seem positive, and apparently it drives well and is exceptionally refined/smooth etc.
Maybe this will be a little bit like the Cayenne was for Porsche - Netting them plenty of cash so that they can go and develop cars that drivers want to drive.

[Vee12V]

I don't thinks it's any more nouveau riche than a Continental GT.

[George111]

I saw one on the M6, probably a test car pulling into Stafford services a few months ago and it really wasn't a pleasant sight. It reminded me of the old Austin 1800 or the Alegro and the rear photo in this article makes it look even worse. The interior isn't too bad though, your friend shouldn't be worried about that, it's a bit Thunderbirds but I guess that's what he wanted.

Regarding the exterior, I guess if designing seriously ugly cars for people who just happen to have a lot of cash is the name of the game then Bentley have probably succeeded but is it good design to aim to attract ugly people with no taste ? Is it not better to design something dazzling ? I can imagine whole parades of shops in Wilmslow or Goff's Oak being blocked out with these things as the orange, wobbly women with gold label handbags and sausage meat legs rush between coffee shop and hairdresser.

When I was a kid I designed cars like Lamborghinis and Iso Griffos - they were dramatic and sweeping, dazzling in those days - so if I had become a designer and ended up designing the Bentayga I'd consider myself in need of a career change.

[Impasse]

In a nutshell, car designers and manufacturers actually DO know more about their subject than the loud mouthed self appointed bores on PH. Who'd have thought it?

[sealtt]

George111 said:

When I was a kid I designed cars like Lamborghinis and Iso Griffos - they were dramatic and sweeping, dazzling in those days

A bold claim, even for the internet.

[George111]

sealtt said:

George111 said:

When I was a kid I designed cars like Lamborghinis and Iso Griffos - they were dramatic and sweeping, dazzling in those days

A bold claim, even for the internet.

You know what I mean . . . I used to draw cars, like the Countach - as a boy that was about as dramatic as it gets !

[daveco]

Impasse said:

In a nutshell, car designers and manufacturers actually DO know more about their subject than the loud mouthed self appointed bores on PH. Who'd have thought it?

They don't have to know anything. You could design an absolutely horrid monstrosity and stick a Bentley badge on it and prospective owners would perceive it as brilliant and brash (see also hummer/X6/range rover sport Kahn etc). The Bentley badge gives them carte blanche to create anything they want and they will still sell them by the bucket load.

It is the easiest job in the world and I am in no way jealous

[JuniorD]

Impasse said:

In a nutshell, car designers and manufacturers actually DO know more about their subject than the loud mouthed self appointed bores on PH. Who'd have thought it?

I'm sure their market research means that Bentley have created a car that falls comfortably within the boundaries of the money quantity verus taste envelope.

[Zod]

article said:

He described as an up and coming designer within Bentley - where he's worked nearly all his professional life - how the first Flying Spur exterior design came down to him and one other proposal, literally split down the middle on a full-size clay. And his lost out.

So to judge from this horror, the first Flying Spur could have looked even worse. I would not have thought that possible with such a badly proportioned mess of a design.

[knebworth01]

I'm usually open minded when it comes to car design, hell, I love the Citroen C6 & BX.
However, it really is an odd looking thing. It just seems to have nothing going for it except vulgarity and brashness.
Just the sort of thing that sells to well off people I suppose, you can't buy taste and all that.....

[vwcaddy]

Cannot wait, the Bentayga looks absolute class, l have had every top model 4 x 4 going and l tell you this will be top draw,
Think most of the negatives will be from people who drive 5 year old 4 x 4's, cannot belive how people can critise a top end British car maker,