In the category of “now we’ve heard everything” comes the announcement that Rolls-Royce will develop an ultraluxury SUV.
The announcement was made in Munich by CEO Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes, since the Rolls-Royce brand is owned by BMW these days. Mueller-Oetvoes said that the new model will offer “the luxury of a Rolls-Royce in a vehicle that can cross any terrain.”
Don’t go running down to your closest Rolls showroom just yet, however. The company indicated that the new SUV will come to market in about three years’ time.
Although the notion of a Rolls-Royce Sport Utility Vehicle is inherently contradictory, we really cannot be surprised. Virtually every automaker offers at least one such model these days, and it is already well-known that Bentley – long a companion brand to Rolls and today also German-owned – has an SUV coming to market.
With an SUV, Rolls-Royce will be seeking to maintain volume growth. In 2003, Rolls sold just 300 cars worldwide. In 2014, it sold more than 4,000. But sales growth at Rolls-Royce will never make Rolls a volume player. A spokesperson for the company was quoted as saying that, even with an SUV in the product mix, “Rolls-Royce cars [will] remain rare, precious items and absolutely authentic.”