Bentley ... Bentayga? [Updated]

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

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