First Bentley Bentayga SUV rolls off the production line in Crewe

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The first Bentley Bentayga – Bentley’e even more upmarket challenge to the Range Rover’s luxury SUV dominance – has been built at Bentley’s Crewe Plant.

It’s taken four years since the Bentley SUV concept was conceived as a way for Bentley to take some of Range Rover’s luxury SUV market, a great deal of disapprobation to overcome when the EXP 9 F Bentley Concept was revealed to the public, and a big investment, but the first Bentley Bentayga SUV has now rolled off Bentley’s production line in Crewe.

It took 130 hours of rolling through a new bodystore, new paint shop and new assembly line, part of Bentley’s £840 million investment at Crewe, to complete the first Bentayga – resplendent in Anthracite and in RHD – but now it’s ready it signals full scale production of the first SUV from Bentley, with first customer cars arriving with their new owners in January.

It would seem this first Bentayga is heading for Bentley’s Heritage Collection, which seems appropriate, so we must assume that Wolfgang Duerheimer’s plan for the Queen to have the first Bentayga didn’t quite work out.

Still, even if the first car doesn’t quite have the Royal seal, Bentley must be chuffed that Bentayga sales seem to be on-track to double sales as orders keep flying in.

Even David Cameron couldn’t resist throwing plaudits Bentley’s way as production commenced, commenting:

I am delighted that the first Bentley Bentayga has rolled off the production line in Crewe. It marks the culmination of a period of exceptional hard work by Bentley and its dedicated workforce as they brought this remarkable new vehicle to market.

Well done to all at Bentley. This is a moment of great pride for everyone who lives and works in Crewe.

So now, if you live in the wealthier parts of the UK, you can expect yet another huge, expensive SUV to come round every corner from the New Year. And this time it may not be a Range Rover.