Bentley SUV – the Bentley Falcon – close to production decision

The Bentley SUV – expected to be called the Bentley Falcon – is close to being officially signed-off for production.

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Despite reporting back in October that the Bentley SUV and Lamborghini Urus SUV were on hold as VW looked at their potential, it became clear soon after that, despite the hiatus to decide if a pair of ultra-luxury SUVs had a potential market, that VW were keen to have a piece of the new Range Rover’s market for themselves.

Within a month of that report we heard that Bentley had decided to give their new SUV the Bentley Falcon‘ moniker – a clear sign VW had decided to produce the Bentley SUV – and now we learn that the EXP 9 F Concept is ready to be signed-off as a production model – albeit with substantial changes to is design.

Wolfgang Schreiber, Bentley CEO, has told Automotive News that Bentley is now close to making official the decision to build the Falcon and that it will get a V8 under the bonnet, and possibly the option of a W12 too.

Based on the same platform as the next Audi Q7 and Porsche Cayenne, the Bentley SUV won’t look much like the EXP 9 F Concept, but will more resemble the rest of the Bentley range (which we take to mean it will look like a Continental GT SUV – which it should have done in the first place); “The main intention was not to show the final styling [with the EXP 9 F] but to get feedback from the market” said Schreiber.

The Bentley Falcon (assuming Bentley don’t have a change of heart on their SUV’s name) should arrive within three years. We originally expected Bentley to pitch their SUV just above the new Range Rover (starting at around £150k), but Bentley dealers we’ve spoken too want to see a price closer to £250k.

It’ll be interesting to seed which way that goes.