Rolls-Royce says that it has reached a seminal moment in the brand’s 111-year journey – the company today confirmed that it is developing a “car that offers the luxury of a Rolls-Royce in a vehicle that can cross any terrain”. Yes, a Rolls-Royce SUV.
In an open letter signed by chairman Peter Schwarzenbauer and CEO Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes, R-R says that the all-terrain model will be a high-bodied car, with an all-new aluminium architecture to keep weight down. A big departure from the marque’s traditional range it may be, but the SUV is promised to appropriately reflect Rolls-Royce’s brand promise of effortless luxury.
The BMW-owned luxury brand, fresh from a record 2014, says that many of its customers have urged them to develop the SUV, which will embody the values that drove Rolls-Royce’s founding fathers to take top honours in overland adventures such as the Scottish Reliability Trails, the London to Edinburgh event and the Alpine Trials. The open letter pointed out that pioneers and adventurers like Lawrence of Arabia used Rolls-Royces to traverse unexplored deserts and mountains.
This rise of the SUV is well documented, and carmakers are cashing in on the trend, from compact B-segment mass market hi-riders like the Honda HR-V and Mazda CX-3 to premium offerings like the Range Rover Evoque, Porsche Macan and Lexus NX. Higher up the scale, Maserati is readying the Levante SUV and Bentley will call its 2016 SUV Bentayga.
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Ministers and UMNO politicians sure happy with this new Rolls SUV. They sure order a few!. Ooops, I mean they sure get one to drive for free bought by their “friend”.
Remember Nazri’s son and his Porsche Cayenne? Fully bought and maintained by Nazri’s “friend”?
Yes, most cars in Malaysia like that. The driver enjoys the car bought and maintained by someone else, in exchange for contracts.
wokey…theopilius chin…start rendering….
ah, it’d be like going back when british was in malaya…
As a car fan, I threw up a little reading this sad news. Thank you BMW for bastardising another British brand.
Asking an architect to do quantity surveyor’s job.
Don’t damage your image/status if you don’t want to do it well. (The word chosed is — don’t)
Phantom’s height is ~1640mm and width ~1980mm. SUV must look ‘wide’ rather than just tall, so I guess we are looking at 2188mm width. And it cannot be shorter than other SUVs since it is the king of passenger cars. Therefore it has to be one size larger, in all dimensions, than the Mercedes GL. 1934mm is just lame for a RR. 1988 height will be ideal.
Some degree of good off-road capability must be there, it just cannot be another X6 right ?
Also the exterior look must be sporty yet elegant and be able to capture the desire of relatively older age group. Age group above 40 years, perhaps. The really old one perhaps will just settle with Phantom.
Every types of vehicles from Rolls-Royce are expected to be the best in its class. If you don’t want to maintain this tradition, please sell it off to other company who is willing to keep it at the top.