Six years after it debuted as the world’s first super-luxury SUV, the Rolls-Royce Cullinan enters its Series II phase. That’s Rolls’ lexicon for the Cullinan facelift, but the brand has taken the opportunity to package in small, but meaningful upgrades. Including debuting massive 23-inch wheels for the Rolls-Royce SUV — an ask that came from consumers — and a botanical upholstery fabric, Duality Twill, that took over a year to develop.
What headlines the changes on the Cullinan Series II include a redesigned front-end with more squared-off edges, new 23-inch wheels, bolder personalization options, and for the first time, the Spirit of Ecstasy figurine in the dash layout. The Cullinan continues to soldier on with the twin-turbo 6.75-liter V12 motor, making 563 horsepower in the standard version, or 592 horsepower in Black Badge guise.
With the Cullinan facelift, the goal was to refine the design of the first Rolls-Royce SUV, and reflect the changing demographic of the brand’s customers. The average age of the Rolls-Royce owner has dropped from 56 to 43, and now over 90 percent of Cullinan owners are self-driven.
The designers also wanted to reflect the urban environments in which most of these SUVs spend the majority of their time. The front end, thus, carries more unbroken vertical surfaces to emphasize the SUV’s height — framed by a squared-off grille and new LED light signature.
On the inside, this ‘urbanity’ can be seen in the Illuminated Fascia panel on the passenger side, seen for the first time on the Rolls-Royce Ghost, carrying a Cityscape graphic inspired by skyscrapers.
Perhaps more tangible upgrades come in the updated SPIRIT infotainment from the all-electric Spectre, and seen for the first time on a V12-powered Rolls-Royce. There’s also the up-lit Spirit of Ecstasy Clock Cabinet to remind owners of the heritage of what they’re piloting. For the discerning Rolls-Royce SUV customer, it should all add up to make the best-selling Rolls-Royce an even more convincing buy.
