A PH-eye vision of Bentley's future
Two entirely new small Bentleys - a sporty SUV and a three-door 'shooting brake' hatchback - could be on the road by 2014.
According to a report from US car mag Automobile, Bentley is keen to create more 'downsized' products, more aware than ever that environmental and economic pressures are making its more ostentatious products increasingly unfashionable.
The result is the New Compact Bentley (NCB), a project that will create two new sub-£100k models. But Bentley is keen not to create three-quarter-scale Continental Flying Spur saloon clone, says the report. As a result, the NCB will spawn two distinct bodystyles - a US-friendly SUV crossover and a sleeker four-seat, three-door shooting brake.
The plan for the SUV is apparently to make it more like a Bentley Allroad rather than a Bentley Q7 (Bentley boss Franz-Josef Paefgen was a big fan of the Allroad during his time in charge of Audi, but was against the Q7). The shooting brake, on the other hand, will be much more sporty - a kind of super-luxury VW Scirocco perhaps? (See pic above for one PH made earlier...)
Underpinning the two new models will be a heavily adapted version of the next Audi A6/A7 platform, so expect plenty of aluminium despite a predicted kerb weight north of 2200kg. Power for both cars is most likely to come from a twin-turbo Audi V8, beefed-up from 4.0 litres to 4.5 and with an expected 550bhp and 480lb ft of torque.
Much as with the Continentals, the new cars will be four wheel drive, with power transmitted to the wheels by an eight-speed automatic rather than a twin-clutch gearbox. A diesel version and a plug-in hybrid are also being considered as possible drivetrain options.
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