Skip advert
Advertisement

'Effortless Everywhere' - Rolls-Royce confirms SUV plans

Luxury carmaker will join the off-road bandwagon in its own inimitable way

Rolls-Royce has announced plans to produce an SUV, in an ‘open letter’ from the company’s chairman and chief executive.

While the car isn’t referred to specifically as an SUV or 4x4, Rolls-Royce describes a vehicle ‘that can cross any terrain’, adding that the vehicle will be a ‘high-bodied car, with an all-new aluminium architecture’. The firm says the new vehicle will be ‘Effortless… Everywhere’.

Advertisement - Article continues below

Rumours have whirled for several years now that Britain’s most famous luxury brand would build an SUV.

Following similar plans from Bentley – the car now known as Bentayga – and the success of Rolls-Royce owner BMW’s own foray into SUVs and crossovers, an SUV model was almost inevitable at some stage.

In addition, growing sales in new markets like China, where high-rise vehicles are even more a status symbol than they are in existing markets, are sure to have cemented the company’s decision.

Chairman Peter Schwarzenbauer and chief executive Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes write that the new car will embody all the values and capabilities that drove Charles Rolls and Sir Henry Royce to enter their vehicles in long-distance events and reliability trials at the turn of the last century.

While no technical details have yet been revealed, Rolls-Royce says the car will ‘appropriately reflect the brand’s promise of effortless luxury’, meeting customers’ contemporary lifestyle expectations.

It's likely though that the new car will use some variation of the 6592cc, twin-turbocharged V12 currently used in models like the Wraith and the Ghost, while all-wheel drive is a certainty. Currently, all Rolls-Royce models are rear-wheel drive, though the BMW group is more than familiar with all-wheel drive powertrains from its X-badged models.

Skip advert
Advertisement

Recommended

2026 Alfa Romeo Stelvio spied – Turin's BMW X3 rival shapes up
Alfa Romeo Stelvio prototype front
News

2026 Alfa Romeo Stelvio spied – Turin's BMW X3 rival shapes up

Stelvio Quadrifoglio looks set to keep petrol power while the rest of the range will be electrified
21 Mar 2025
Porsche Cayenne 2025 review – still the king of sporty SUVs?
Porsche Cayenne – front
In-depth reviews

Porsche Cayenne 2025 review – still the king of sporty SUVs?

There's clear sporting DNA in the new Cayenne, and it now has the tech and processing power to rival the very best
21 Mar 2025
Land Rover Defender Octa 2025 review – so much more than a ‘Defender SV’
Land Rover Defender Octa
Reviews

Land Rover Defender Octa 2025 review – so much more than a ‘Defender SV’

Put aside your SUV cynicism. The Land Rover Defender Octa is credit to SVO, with 911 GT3 levels of engineering that's an unexpected thrill to drive
17 Mar 2025
Audi SQ5 2025 review – a quietly competent but uninvolving performance SUV
Audi SQ5 – front
Reviews

Audi SQ5 2025 review – a quietly competent but uninvolving performance SUV

Audi’s latest SQ5 rides on a new PPC platform and packs a 362bhp V6 – it’s a well-rounded fast SUV but lacks the sparkle of the best
6 Mar 2025
Skip advert
Advertisement

Most Popular

Why car enthusiasts are suddenly lusting after once-ridiculed old Volvos
Volvo 760 Turbo
Opinion

Why car enthusiasts are suddenly lusting after once-ridiculed old Volvos

A sighting of a 1980s Volvo induces a bout of wistfulness for Porter
21 Mar 2025
New VW Golf GTI Clubsport S is coming to take on the Honda Civic Type R
Volkswagen Golf GTI GTI Clubsport S
News

New VW Golf GTI Clubsport S is coming to take on the Honda Civic Type R

VW will celebrate 50 years of the Golf GTI at the N24, with the reveal of a very special model
21 Mar 2025
Subaru Impreza WRX STI (Mk1, 1994 - 2000): review, history and specs of the rally icon
Subaru Impreza WRX STI Type RA
Reviews

Subaru Impreza WRX STI (Mk1, 1994 - 2000): review, history and specs of the rally icon

The original Impreza WRX STI is a motorsport icon, a true homologation special and a relative bargain in 2025
22 Mar 2025