Bentley Bentayga To Get A Plug-In Hybrid Variant

Bentley is all set to reveal a plug-in hybrid variant of its Bentayga SUV at the Geneva Motor Show to be held in March 2018. This will take the Bentayga's powertrain options to three in addition to the 6.0-litre W12 bitrubo and the 4.0-litre V8 biturbo diesel. The hybrid powertrain will be a 2.9-litre V6 petrol motor along with an electric motor, which will have a combined power output of about 460 bhp or so. The engine is something similar to the one used on the Panamera E-Hybrid. Expect a full electric range of around 50 kilometres or so. The Bentayga Hybrid should hit the roads in Europe in the second half of 2018.

(Bentley Bentayga PHEV)

Bentley will also be launching a new V8 petrol engine, which will most likely be a newly tuned version of the group's 4.0-litre biturbo engine. It is already being used in the Porsche Cayenne and the Lamborghini Urus. All these SUVs are built on the same MLB platform, which makes life easier, when it comes to sharing powertrains. Similarly, the Urus could also use the same hybrid engine as on the Bentayga, but that is hearsay as of now.

The Bentley Bentayga is already the most popular model from the luxury carmaker's portfolio with sales of 5,586 units globally in 2016. Bentley has not released the figures for 2017 yet. For the first nine months of 2017, Bentley sold a total of 7,498 units globally. The figures were revealed the VW Group's interim financial statement. Keep watching this space for more.