Like it or not, for the foreseeable future and until the fad goes away and a fresh generation of buyers begins to look for something else when it comes to rides to differentiate itself from its elders, SUVs or Sports Utility Vehicles are here to stay.
When Bentley announced their intentions to sell an SUV with the controversial EXP 9 concept last year, you could say that the company’s decision raised a few eyebrows. One of those people who were surprised in an envious kind of way must have been Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes who now wants the traditional high-end British carmaker to follow in Bentley’s footsteps.
“We are intensively thinking about entering the SUV segment,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg News at the Frankfurt auto show. “The SUV segment is very interesting. It has been incredibly stable during the crisis, and I think a luxury niche will develop,” he added.
Otoves said that the BMW Group-owned automaker is beginning the evaluation process by having its design team create conceptual proposals as a first step to see if an SUV is a fitting addition to the range. He added that a final decision has not yet been made.
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