Rolls-Royce is churning out Cullinans as fast as it may
When Rolls-Royce first floated the idea of an SUV model in 2013, enterprise observers established it with a sigh of inevitability whilst emblem purists flinched and promptly spilled Grey Poupon on their tuxedos. The Anglo-Germanic luxury automaker’s SUV test would not seem so heretical these days. It helped in no small part via the truth that Bentley sneaked into the SUV birthday celebration first and became joined across the equal time by using Maserati, Lamborghini, and Alfa Romeo. Aston Martin will follow in just a couple of years, and from the appears of it, Ferrari will make it too.
In truth, the Cullinan has proved to be so famous that Rolls-Royce, which formally kept away from the time period SUV quickly till the Cullinan’s debut, can slightly keep up with the call for Automotive News reviews.
The marque’s state of the artwork Goodwood, U.K., a factory is jogging at one hundred percent capacity even as the order financial institution is complete through July 2019 — Goodwood has even employed two hundred employees to preserve up, Automotive News says. And that is for an SUV that starts offevolved at $325,000 and whose alternative ebook can “in shape” the rate equal of numerous other SUVs — the only one we drove again in October changed into optioned as much as $380,000, and most could be about $450,000 out the door. That’s $one hundred twenty-five,000 in alternatives.
Half of Cullinan customers are new to the emblem, Martin Fritsche’s, CEO of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Americas, told Automotive News.
“I would love to have a bit more deliver,” Fritsches delivered. “And I do not get it due to the fact we are strolling on one hundred percent of production capacity, growing the manufacturing capacity for the duration of the weeks and months, however nevertheless no longer being capable of capture up to call for.”
Is this a transient rush for a model that has just released some months in the past, or an extended-term fashion for all luxurious brands?
Rolls-Royce fully anticipated the Cullinan to become the brand’s best-selling model, a mantle held with the aid of the Dawn convertible until the Cullinan’s debut. This means the enterprise knew it would have a hit on its fingers long earlier than the first instance rolled out of the gates at Goodwood, lower back whilst the economic system became a little much less receptive to $450,000 SUVs. Now, in 2019, the query can also thoroughly be: Can Rolls-Royce preserve up with the demand?
Cullinan made to a few types of primary trim degree.
The automaker has stated on several occasions that it isn’t always chasing extent — doing so would diminish the exclusivity of its cars — but a quantity version like the Cullinan, which Rolls-Royce did no longer even want to name an SUV until the day of its debut, may also make the marque a bit extra relatable if now not extra less costly. In impact, the Cullinan will do for Rolls-Royce what the 2003-era Continental GT did for Bentley: Serve as the emblem’s calling card through sheer presence, although that presence will be in the front of posh motels and eating places. This means that, in time, the Phantom will take a backseat function, pun supposed.
