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

Used Porsche Cayenne (2010-2017) review – not the prettiest SUV, but a remarkably capable one
Porsche Cayenne – front
In-depth reviews

Used Porsche Cayenne (2010-2017) review – not the prettiest SUV, but a remarkably capable one

It might be big and ugly, but the second-gen Cayenne is a sporty SUV with real depth and ability – particularly in GTS form
26 Mar 2025
Best performance SUVs 2025 – family-friendly supercars on stilts
Best SUVs 2025
Best cars

Best performance SUVs 2025 – family-friendly supercars on stilts

The best hot SUVs offer entertaining dynamic characters all of their own, even if we'd rather drive an equivalent fast estate...
24 Mar 2025
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
Skip advert
Advertisement

Most Popular

Audi RS3 v Toyota GR Yaris v Mercedes-AMG A45 S – car pictures of the week
Hot hatch test
Features

Audi RS3 v Toyota GR Yaris v Mercedes-AMG A45 S – car pictures of the week

In the latest issue of evo, we test three of the most sophisticated hot hatches on sale against each other on road and track – these are our favourite…
29 Mar 2025
Honda Civic Type R (FN2) – the car world's greatest misses
Honda Civic Type R FN2
Features

Honda Civic Type R (FN2) – the car world's greatest misses

Its lineage contains some hot hatch greats, but the late-noughties Civic wasn’t one of them
26 Mar 2025
Performance Link Mazda MX-5 R300 review – an MX-5 with Honda VTEC power
Performance Link Mazda MX-5 R300 – front
Reviews

Performance Link Mazda MX-5 R300 review – an MX-5 with Honda VTEC power

A screaming 296bhp Honda VTEC engine and a full chassis upgrade package turn the NC-generation Mazda MX-5 into something altogether more thrilling
25 Mar 2025