Rolls-Royce is to make its first SUV according to a letter sent out to potential customers, employees, suppliers and media.
The single page letter [click on Press Release below], signed by CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös and chairman Peter Schwarzenbauer, said many customers had “urged” the company to develop the car.
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The BMW-owned automaker does appear to be avoiding the term SUV, however. Müller-Ötvös describes it as an “all new, high bodied Rolls-Royce” which is currently under development and it will deliver on the luxury brand’s promise of high end luxury.
It is expected the ultra-luxury 4×4 will be a step above Range Rover and Porsche and even the new Bentley SUV, offering greater exclusivity. Prices were not mentioned but such a car is unlikely to start below GBP250,000 (US$380,000) and could rise to double that.
Britain’s Autocar magazine said the 4×4 would be a new aluminium architecture, believed to be a Phantom-like spaceframe that would also serve as the basis for all new Rolls-Royce models in the future. Power could come from a version of the Phantom’s 6.8-litre V12 while Rolls-Royce is developing a plug-in hybrid powertrain.
Müller-Ötvös told Autocar it was a big decision to go ahead with the development of an SUV “but so is the decision to build it on new aluminium architecture. That’s going to affect what we do for many years to come.”
The SUV will also open Rolls-Royce up potentially to new customers and is slated for launch in 2017.
