A NEW version of the Bentley Bentayga luxury SUV has been announced with changes to the body style and more technology on board.

The facelift sees the large 4x4 get a more aggressive appearance to its looks with a revised grille and front apron design while at the rear the differences are more significant.

Bentley's engineers have completely redesigned the back of the car with a full-width tailgate, new elliptical lamp clusters like those of the Continental GT and the number plate has moved into the bumper.

There's also an increase of almost an inch to the rear track which is designed to improve the Bentayga's stance.

Inside, the new model has a 10.9-inch display screen with high resolution graphics and more connectivity features with Apple CarPlay now standard as well as Android Auto.

An embedded SIM card has allowed for the expansion of Bentley's connected services while the car also gets a new steering wheel, new door trims and all-new seats - now available with ventilation in the rear of the five-seat cabin option.

Passengers in the rear also have more space, with legroom increased by up to 100 mm depending on configuration.

Since its launch in 2015 more than 20,000 Bentaygas have been sold and the new model is likely to be priced similarly to the current iteration costing from around £135,000.

Adrian Hallmark, chairman and chief executive of Bentley Motors, said: "From its moment of launch nearly five years ago, the Bentayga has been the very definition of the luxury SUV.

"Like the Continental GT, the Bentayga created an entirely new part of the market, and since we set the benchmark many others have joined the sector, but no other car can offer a breadth of ability to rival the Bentayga.

"With the new Bentayga, we're repositioning the pinnacle of the luxury SUV segment to be even higher, even further away from the competition. We've listened to our customers and made improvements to the areas most important to them, and the new Bentayga is a thoroughly modern and beautiful extension of the original car's abilities and achievements."

The new Bentayga will be powered by a 4.0-litre V8 petrol engine developing 550ps which gives it supercar-like performance with a top speed of 180mph and a 0 to 60 acceleration of 4.4 seconds.

Fuel economy is rated 21.2mpg with emissions of 302g/km and Bentley says the car has a range of 397 miles on a full tank.

Plans are also afoot to offer the Bentayga as a plug-in hybrid as the company makes its first steps towards electrification under its Beyond100 business plan.

There will also be a performance-focused Speed model which will be powered by Bentley's 6.0-litre W12 TSI engine.