Rolls-Royce is the latest luxury carmaker to confirm plans to build a sport utility vehicle as it looks to tap into one of the industry’s fastest-growing market segments.
The company’s move into SUVs sees it follow fellow British motoring brands Jaguar and Bentley into the oversized luxury market, which is headed by German brands such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi.
SUVs have become one of the car industry’s most profitable segments for both premium marques and volume manufacturers. Sales in the so-called medium premium SUV category are expected to increase 30 per cent to 1.9m by the end of the decade, according to IHS Automotive, having already tripled in the past five years.
Rolls-Royce, which is owned by German motoring group BMW, confirmed on Wednesday that it would launch its first 4x4 — a big departure for a company that produces only three saloon-style models.
The high-end carmaker said it was responding to demand from its customers to create an “all-new, high-bodied” Rolls-Royce.
Last month, Jaguar confirmed the launch of its first ever “performance crossover” car — an alumnium-bodied SUV — that will go on sale in 2016. Bentley — famed for its sleek saloons — will also launch its luxury 4x4 in 2016. Rolls-Royce said it was too early to say when its new model would go on sale, noting it was likely to be in a few years’ time. The upmarket British brand said the aluminium platform for its luxury 4x4 would be bespoke to Rolls-Royce, and would be built out of its existing UK factory capacity of about 6,000 vehicles.
“I am confident that this new Rolls-Royce will fully deliver on our brand’s promise of supreme luxury,” said Torsten Müller-Ötvös, chief executive of Rolls-Royce.
Phil Harrold, automotive partner at PwC professional services, said the 111-year-old company was “moving with the times” and addressing a popular emerging market.
“The Rolls-Royce brand has been around for a long time . . . by launching a SUV they are refreshing and reinvigorating the brand and keeping it relevant to the modern market,” he said.
It comes after a bumper year for premium cars made in the UK. Both Bentley and BMW-Mini, two German-owned carmakers with sizeable UK operations, have reported record sales for 2014. Rolls-Royce reported a fifth consecutive year of record car sales.
The British high-end carmaker sold more cars in the €200,000-plus “super-luxury” category than any other manufacturer in 2014. Last year it delivered 4,063 vehicles to customers, a 12 per cent increase on the prior year and a quadrupling of sales since 2009.