The first one may have divided opinions as much as Marmite, but now Rolls-Royce has launched the second generation of its vast Cullinan SUV with a host of upgrades and styling tweaks designed to maintain its top selling status.
As order books open today ahead of first deliveries in summer, many of the changes have been driven by a significant shift in the proportion of customers who now drive themselves – rather than let a chauffeur have all the fun – especially in urban areas as the average age of owners has also dropped dramatically.
After six years in the spotlight Rolls-Royce bosses deemed the time was right to update what has become known as the ‘Rolls-Royce of SUVs’, said the firm with its boutique factory in Goodwood, West Sussex which now employs more than 2,500 people.
And Cullinan Series II is again heading back to black as an edgier Black Badge version – tailored to those seeking an even more radical interpretation of Rolls-Royce with added bling – is also available from launch.
Just fractionally longer (13mm) than the original, the new Cullinan is powered by the same massive 6.75-litre V12 twin-turbocharged engine developing up to 600 horsepower (for Black Badge, 571hp for the standard model).
Linked to an eight-speed automatic gearbox, this opulent SUV can accelerate from rest to 62mph in up to 5.3 seconds (0.1 seconds faster than its predecessor) up to a top speed electronically limited to 155mph.
But it’s still a significant gas-guzzler; it manages only a thirsty 16.8 to 17.7mpg with CO2 emissions of 363 to 380g/km (only fractionally don on its predecessor’s 373 to 380g/km), making it one of the worst cars on the road for your bank account.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars says the new model is ‘a bold evolution of the world’s pre-eminent super-luxury SUV’ and a direct response to the changing face of luxury and how their high net worth clients use their cars and a desire by customers for ‘bolder forms of self-expression, innovative decoration and detail’.
Highlights include exterior styling changes inspired by skyscrapers to give the vehicle a more contemporary and urban look, new bamboo fabric interior and seating with 2.2 million stitches and up to 11 miles of thread, a seat pattern made up of 408,284 individual perforations inspired by clouds over the Rolls-Royce’s Goodwood home and a laser-etched 3D-effect illuminated fascia with 7,000 apertures.
The Spirit of Ecstasy figurine and clock cabinet now glow, while the driver’s dashboard gauge panel and the central information display are redesigned to accommodate a new advanced operating system called SPIRIT.
The car rides of vast 23-inch wheels, only increasing this brash motor’s overwhelming road presence.
Designers, engineers and craftspeople drew on half a decade of detailed client feedback and a most advanced new technologies to create a revamped Cullinan which it says ‘responds to changing codes of luxury and evolving usage patterns while remaining true to the essential qualities that underpin Cullinan’s unprecedented popularity’.
And don’t worry, everyone’s favourite Cullinan party piece has been retained for the Series II version…
The ‘Viewing Suite’, which is a pair of chairs that swivel out of the boot compartment, are designed for those who like to attend regattas and need somewhere comfortable to sit while kicking back and sipping on a flute of bubbly.
With the host of upgrades to Cullinan also comes an up-lift in prices which start from £300,000, but will significantly exceed this – and can double – this once bespoke extras are added.
Launched in 2018, the original first generation Cullinan was proclaimed the world’s first ‘super-luxury SUV’.
Rolls-Royce said: ‘From a performance and engineering standpoint, it had to have genuine off-road capabilities equal to the most demanding and hostile environments on Earth.
At the same time, it had to deliver the marque’s peerless comfort and signature magic carpet ride, regardless of the terrain. It had to be nothing less than the definitive super-luxury SUV —rugged yet refined, unstoppable yet serene: effortless, everywhere.’
Its success far exceeded Rolls-Royce’s most ambitious expectations as it became the marque’s best-selling vehicle.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars new chief executive officer Chris Brownridge said: ‘Cullinan has attracted entirely new groups of clients to Rolls-Royce and profoundly altered perceptions of what a Rolls-Royce motor car is, and what it can mean to its owner.
‘Cullinan Series II has been created to build on that success.
‘By integrating new technologies, new materials, meticulously considered design updates and innovative opportunities for self-expression through Bespoke, we retain everything our clients love about this motor car, ensuring its continued allure.’
Rolls-Royce design director Anders Warming added: ‘Cullinan Series II is more energetic, focussed and expressive, in line with the priorities of today’s super-luxury consumers.’
He added: ‘The dark, primal elements that are so essential to the Black Badge character are expressed here in extremis and are further amplified by dramatic and assertive coachwork reserved for this disruptive expression of the brand.’
Cullinan is named after the South African Cullinan diamond, the largest gem-quality rough diamond ever found, cut elements of which form part of the Crown Jewels.
