It’s no secret that Rolls-Royce are working on an SUV. Aside from the regular leak of information making its way out of the company, mules have been spotted testing in various locations. Keen to capitalise on the exposure, Rolls-Royce issued a press release confirming that the Cullinan Project will undertake cold-weather testing this winter!
The press release starts with a reminder of an open letter published in the Financial Times on 18 February 2015. In the letter Rolls-Royce undertook to regularly inform its stakeholders about the progress of Project Cullinan. The updates have been twice-yearly ever since with the photos released today expected to be the final update of the year.
The Rolls-Royce Cullinan has now began testing in public. Rolls-Royce are developing an all-new all-wheel drive suspension system, with an all-new aluminium architecture. Effectively, the Cullinan will be receive a completely new platform set to underpin all Rolls-Royces from 2018 onwards.
Project Cullinan will test in the Arctic Circle after winter. Aiming to test cold weather durability and traction. Later in 2017, it will travel to the Middle East for hot weather testing in the challenging desert conditions.
Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive Officer of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars said: “This is an incredibly exciting moment in the development of Project Cullinan both for Rolls-Royce and for the patrons of luxury that follow us around the world. Bringing together the new four-wheel drive system and the new ‘architecture of luxury’ for the first time sets us on the road to creating a truly authentic Rolls-Royce which, like its forebears, will reset the standard by which all other luxury goods are judged.””
