Bentley Teases New SUV

Bentley Motors Group has released an obscured image of the new SUV it plans to introduce in 2016.

The Volkswagen AG unit says the vehicle's sides, rear and roof have been redesigned from the EXP 9 F concept it presented to largely negative reviews at the 2012 Geneva auto show.

"Not everybody was happy with the (original) design," CEO Wolfgang Schreiber concedes. The new version he says, will do a better job of meeting customer expectations. He boasts that the vehicle will create a completely new segment in the SUV market in terms of power, luxury and price.

Bentley, which hopes for annual sales of 3,500 SUVs, says it has some 2,000 advance orders in hand now. The company tells reporters the vehicle will be priced somewhere above $221,000, making it the market's most expensive SUV.

Reports suggest the vehicle will debut in production form 18 months from now at the Frankfurt auto show.

Bentley sold a record 10,100 cars in 2013. It hopes the SUV will help it achieve annual sales of 15,000 by 2018.