Rolls-Royce Says Cullinan Will Be A ‘High-Sided Vehicle’ Not An SUV

Rolls-Royce is refusing to dub its upcoming crossover, codenamed Project Cullinan, an SUV.

The firm’s global production communications manager Andrew Boyle told Motoring that the vehicle is not considered an SUV. Instead, he says it’s a high-sided vehicle.

“Project Cullinan? We call it a high-sided vehicle. SUV is not necessarily the right thing to call it because it’s not necessarily sports, it’s not necessarily utility,” Boyle asserted.

It was originally thought that Rolls-Royce would directly rival its latest model against the Bentley Bentayga, offering both incredible performance and sheer opulence. That doesn’t seem to be the case however, with Boyle going on to state that the model will be completely unlike anything else currently on the market.

“A number of other brands are entering into this area as well, with their own interpretations of what a luxury SUV should be. You’ll have to wait to see what we decide it should be, but I think you’ll find that it’ll be a different interpretation to what’s available today,” he said.

For now, we know that Project Cullinan is underpinned by an aluminum architecture set to support the next-generation Phantom. This platform will be capable of accommodating electric powertrains but it isn’t currently clear when Rolls-Royce intends to offer electrification to its models.