Rolls-Royce stands to do enormously well out of the new Cullinan.

At times in this car’s gestation it has seemed Rolls-Royce might have dithered so long and it was missing a slice of the SUV customer boom — but not a bit of it. The Cullinan could easily boost Rolls volume by 50 per cent and fill the coffers quickly. We’ve seen enough smiling dealers’ faces (and heard enough stories of horse trading over bigger allocations) not to know the car’s already a roaring success.

Rolls-Royce Cullinan SUV revealed

But the success isn’t just Cullinan. It’s the highly flexible and configurable aluminium space frame underneath. Introduced a year ago with the new Phantom it’ll go progressively into every new Rolls from now on, maybe even some models haven’t thought of. With the facilities now at its disposal, the Goodwood company is now in a position to do whatever it wants that turns a profit. Which makes a mighty change.

For most of its post-war life, Rolls has been rather a hapless, underfunded follower, technologically speaking. Now it’s a leader. 

Q&A: Torsten Müler-Otvös - Rolls-Royce CEO

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