Today, Bentley announced that production of the Bentley Bentayga Extended Wheelbase has begun in Crewe.

While it may not make sense to make an already big car even bigger. Long-wheelbase cars sell extremely well in China, however. And we know that Bentley is already an extremely popular brand in the East.

The Bentayga EWB produces 550 horsepower and 568 lb-ft of torque, which pushes the massive 5,542-pound luxury leviathan to 60 mph in a laughable 4.5 seconds and on to a 180 mph top speed. We should note we were given these figures at the launch in Canada, and we can confirm that the Bentayga EWB feels as fast as Bentley suggests.

With the start of the car's production at the carbon-neutral Crewe facility, Bentley says that the EWB is its unofficial "fifth model." It's likely unofficial, so Bentley can still claim its range is now officially 50% electrified.

We were told this frequently during the car's Vancouver launch, as more than 2,500 new parts are needed for the Bentayga EWB. The EWB is also now Bentley's best-selling version of its best-selling car. The Bentayga accounts for 40% of all the brand's sales. Looking at the current Bentayga pre-orders, the EWB already accounts for 40%.

"The new Bentayga Extended Wheelbase is the next chapter in the Bentagya story which, since the original luxury SUV came to market in 2015, has transformed the sector and resulted in record sales," said Peter Bosch, Member of the Board for Manufacturing at Bentley Motors.

The start of production also allows us to touch on some features we loved that didn't make it into the first drive review.

Bentley's Airline seats drop down to 40 degrees when fully reclined, and customers will have up to 24 billion possible trim combinations to choose from, including ambient lighting that shines through the car's perforated leather.

Bentley has clearly created a winner by extending the wheelbase and adding seven inches of legroom. We placed it in a class of one during our test of the car, and it appears that orders for the new "fifth Bentley" reflect that.

Expect to see these at a Hermes store near you soon.