Rolls Royce announces plans to design an SUV

by Damien Sharkov
“What would happen if the factory at Derby produced a bad car?”, Sir Henry Royce was once asked. “Madam,” he turned to his host, “The man on the gate would not let it out of the works. ”
It is an anecdote Rolls-Royce owners rejoice in perpetuating as true and in all honesty, it may as well be. There is hyperbole in every industry but it is rare to hear complaints about a Rolls-Royce vehicle.
Indeed, much like caravanning, until not so long ago the brand was associated almost exclusively with the country estates of society’s proverbial crème de la crème.
Yet a Rolls with a caravan in tow has seldom been seen. Of course there are many reasons for this, they are hardly lacking in kerbweight, but the lack of off-road ability and sheer price of the Derby luxury vehicles were largely at fault for that.
It seems, however, that the day when you will see one of Sir Henry’s modern creations pulling a caravan to some quaint corner of the world may be nearing, as Rolls Royce has announced the possibility of building an SUV.
“I have tasked our designers to come up with some ideas on paper how they would imagine our car, the Rolls-Royce, would look like in this segment,” chief executive Torsten Müller-Ötvös said this week.
With luxury car competitors Bentley already having announced plans to have an SUV out by 2016, the diamond encrusted gauntlet has well and truly been thrown down.
Yet Müller-Ötvös acknowledges how absurd the project will sound, considering the lofty reputation Rolls Royce has cultivated since the release of its first model in 1906.
“Rolls-Royce is not sporty, Rolls-Royce is not utility (and) it is not in the genes of this brand,” he admits.
“There is no decision yet made, and we aren’t rushing it, and there is also really no need to enter that segment. It only makes sense if this can be credibly represented by Rolls-Royce,” Müller-Ötvös said.
There is no word yet on when the concept could see the light of day, let alone how many, if any, would be produced. It would take quite a caravan to outshine a Roller towcar though, wouldn’t it?