Bentley redesigns Bentayga SUV as key vehicle under new business strategy

Bentley has redesigned its Bentayga SUV as a key vehicle in the famed British carmaker’s retooled lineup.

The $177,000 vehicle is the first model under Bentley’s “Beyond100” business strategy, which aims to reinvent the 101-year-old company for the next century. The plan includes pivoting to electrified vehicles while continuing to sell a plug-in hybrid model of the Bentayga.

The 2021 Bentayga unveiled Tuesday evolves the vehicle’s exterior design with new LED lights as well as a larger matrix grille. The rear of the vehicle also was updated for a sleeker, less-boxy look.

Much of the noticeable changes to the SUV occur on the interior. Specifically, a new center stack and next-generation infotainment system displayed on a “Bentley ‘wing’ dashboard” that features a 10.9-inch display with edge-to-edge graphics. A large all-digital driver information cluster also sits behind the steering wheel.

In the back seats, there’s additional legroom and a larger touch-screen remote control tablet. The vehicle also features onboard air ionizers, enhancing cabin air purity, Bentley said. 

“With the new Bentayga, we’re positioning the pinnacle of the luxury SUV segment to be even higher, even further away from the competition,” Adrian Hallmark, chairman and CEO of Bentley, said in a press release.

The Bentayga will continue to be powered by a 4.0-liter V8, twin-turbo engine with 542 horsepower and 568 pound-feet of torque. Its top speed is 180 mph and can achieve 0 to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds, according to Bentley. Hybrid and performance-oriented variants of the Bentayga will follow the standard model later this year.

Bentley has sold more than 20,000 Bentayga SUVs, which take more than four days to build by hand, since the vehicle went on sale in 2016. It represented 45{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f}, or roughly 4,950, of the more than 11,000 vehicles sold by the company in 2019.