Luxury carmaker Rolls-Royce announced overnight Wednesday that it was developing an SUV, offering few details on their plans to the public. There is speculation that the model is likely to dethrone competitor Bentley’s soon-to-unveiled Bentayga SUV as the most expensive SUV on the market.
Yes, just in case having an SUV isn't ostentatious enough, now you have an even more expensive option. Three cheers for capitalism.
In an open letter, Chairman Peter Schwarzenbauer and Chief Executive Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes said the company was working on a new car that "offers the luxury of a Rolls-Royce in a vehicle that can cross any terrain” and would be "high-bodied.”
Good thing, we like our cars high-bodied.
Rolls-Royces conveyed pioneers and adventurers like Lawrence of Arabia across the vastness of unexplored deserts and over mountain ranges. In other parts of the world including Australia, India and the Americas, Rolls-Royces carried their owners over challenging terrain with absolute reliability and comfort.
History sets our precedent and our future calls us to action.
This new journey begins now. We will take our time in developing and perfecting this new concept in luxury. We will include our customers, enthusiasts and media along the way and will keep you informed of our progress.
In an interview with British car magazine Autocar, Mueller-Oetvoes was cagey on any further details, but did say that the company was looking at 2017 for production, explaining the early announcement:
We felt the whole Rolls-Royce family needed to hear the news as early as possible. Our customers needed to know we were responding to their enthusiasm for the idea and our employees needed to know we were building and safeguarding our business and their jobs. And obviously we needed to tell the media
Which is basically media-speak for, we wanted to steal the thunder from our competitor, so we released the details way before you can ever buy this car, even if you had an extra quarter of a million dollars around.
The complete lack of details from Rolls-Royce – with no model name, engine or chassis details or even a firm release date – underscore the idea that this announcement was driven by competitors’ actions, namely Bentley’s forthcoming Bentayga SUV.
Set to go on sale in 2016, the Bentayga is expected to start at $215,000, making a splash as the most expensive SUV on the market.
But if Rolls-Royce delivers on its promise, Bentley won’t hold that throne very long – it’s hard to see Rolls-Royce offering any vehicle, let alone an SUV, for under $250,000 – its entry-level Ghost sedan has an MSRP of $265,000.
At least the lack of details gives us plenty of time to imagine what the 111-year-old automaker can bring to the SUV market, with enthusiastic artists already at work mocking up potential designs.