Report: Rolls-Royce insists you don’t call its new SUV, an SUV

Rolls-Royce’s first four-wheel drive vehicle will be “a high-sided” one.

So I’m here, talking about SUVs again. But the specific one in discussion is due in the near future. And it comes from a very unlikely producer of SUVs.

That company is Rolls-Royce, an automaker known for some of the world’s most luxurious coupes, convertibles, and sedans. Crossovers and SUVs, not so much.

But crossover SUVs are the hottest thing sales wise and it was only a matter of time until the super luxurious automakers produced their own. Bentley started the trend with the Bentayga. With Rolls-Royce as its leading competitor, Rolls realized they couldn’t let Bentley take all the action.

So now, Rolls-Royce is producing its own crossover SUV to compete with Bentley’s Bentayga. But Rolls insists that you don’t call it an SUV.

Codenamed Project Cullinan, Motoring in Australia reports the new crossover launches in the later part of 2018. It first received this name back in September of 2015.

Not a lot of technical news is available about the new Rolls. But a high-riding test mule based on the old Phantom with a giant wing spoiler and a murdered-out look was confirmed by Rolls-Royce to be its development vehicle. This obviously implies the new crossover should get its roots from the next-generation Phantom sedan. And the Phantom already gets its backbone from the BMW 7-Series.

Speaking with Rolls-Royce’s global product communications manager, Motoring also learned that a lot of the 7-Series’ technology will show up in the crossover.

“Project Cullinan will certainly be a very different experience of a Rolls-Royce. But it will also be a very different experience for the luxury customer,” Rolls-Royce’s Andrew Boyle told the outlet.

No word on what should sit under the hood of the Cullinan. But because it’s based off of the Phantom and the BMW 7-Series, chances of a BMW-sourced V12 isn’t out of the question. Already, the Phantom is powered by one, the same twin-turbo mill in the top-spec BMW 760Li.

– By: Chris Chin

Source: Motoring