Rolls-Royce today confirmed that it is going to build a sports utility vehicle (SUV) that would be “effortless, everywhere” and satisfy the “contemporary, highly mobile lifestyles of discerning clients around the world”.

The new SUV would be a high-bodied car with a new aluminium structure, have exceptional presence, elegance and purpose, while offering the luxury of a Rolls-Royce in a vehicle that can cross any terrain, Chairman Peter Schwarzenbauer and Chief Executive Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes said .

The new SUV would be worthy of carrying the Spirit of Ecstasy into the future, they added.

“Many discerning customers have urged us to develop this new car – and we have listened. At Rolls-Royce Motor Cars we are uniquely focused on the desires of our customers and are driven by our own thirst to innovate. So we challenged our engineers and design team, led by Director of Design Giles Taylor, to create a different and exceptional new car,” they said in a statement.

Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes said: “I am proud to confirm that Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is developing an all-new, high-bodied Rolls-Royce designed to satisfy the contemporary, highly mobile lifestyles of our discerning clients around the world.  I am confident that this new Rolls-Royce will fully deliver on our brand’s promise of supreme luxury while at the same time being effortless ... everywhere.”

Schwarzenbauer, who is also a board member of the BMW Group, said: “BMW Group stands proudly behind this announcement.  The group’s continuous investment into the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars brand is paying considerable dividends. Rolls-Royce is the ultra-luxury cornerstone of the BMW Group’s premium brand strategy and we will continue to strongly support Rolls-Royce as it moves, confidently, into this new phase in its development.”