The Rolls-Royce Cullinan has been spotted again, this time undergoing final testing in the north of Europe before it goes on sale in 2018. Previous glimpses of this ultra-luxurious SUV have all been of the car wearing a Phantom shaped disguise, rather than the taller, more imposing car shown here.
Dubbed 'project Cullinan' and likely to use that name for production, this is Rolls Royce’s first high-riding model. In its press release Rolls-Royce says that the Cullinan is officially set to be "assessed on public roads in various locations around the world". The testing phase will ensure the SUV delivers Rolls-Royce's trademark 'magic-carpet' ride on a variety of surfaces and that it is resilient to extreme weather conditions.
Rolls-Royce confirmed development of an all-new aluminium architecture for the Cullinan earlier this year. The new platform will eventually be used for the next-generation Phantom, and the announcement that production of the current model has stopped confirms this. An all-new suspension system is being primed for the production Cullinan, too, alongside the all-wheel-drive system.
Like the Bentley Bentayga, this new ultra luxurious model will carry an elite status among the raft of premium SUVs that are already on sale. We expect the production-spec model to go on sale in 2018.