Rolls-Royce Will Name Its First SUV After the Largest Diamond Ever – Meet the Cullinan [News]

 

Rolls-Royce Cullinan teaser image
[Photo: Rolls-Royce]

It’s Not an “SUV” – it’s a High-Bodied Car

Rolls-Royce announced to the world that they’re bringing out an SUV a few years ago. That’s no breaking news, but the company’s been mum on what they would actually name the car…until now. Meet the Rolls-Royce Cullinan, pictured below.

Rumors purported Rolls-Royce would call their high-bodied car (as they’ve come to call it) the Cullinan, but today they officially announced the name. Referring to the absolutely gigantic 3,106 carat Cullinan diamond, you can’t say the name doesn’t fit the car. After all, Rolls-Royce has stood as one of the most prestigious, luxurious brands out there for decades.

Naming one of your cars after the largest diamond ever found certainly makes the intended message to prospective customers clear. Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Rolls-Royce CEO, states:

“It is the most fitting name for our extraordinary new product. Cullinan is a motor car of such clarity and purpose, such flawless quality and preciousness, and such presence that it recalibrates the scale and possibility of true luxury.”

Apart from the grandiose atmosphere surrounding Rolls-Royce’s SUV and its name, the company also released some official photos of the preproduction model. Strangely, one of the photos shows the Cullinan doing something no Rolls-Royce owner or chauffeur will never do – climb a muddy hill. Still, nice to know it can manage a rough stretch of road, if the need arises.

Another significant point of the new Cullinan is its aluminum spaceframe architecture. After the new Phantom, this is the second Rolls-Royce model to don an aluminum body. Rolls-Royce should unveil the production Cullinan later this year, with customers receiving their cars in 2019. Pricing isn’t available at time of writing. It may not be 3,106 carat expensive, but don’t expect it to cost as much as your plebeian Mercedes-Benz or BMW, either.

Rolls-Royce Cullinan preproduction photo
[Photo: Rolls-Royce]