GENEVA ¨C Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is having a hard time meeting demand for its Cullinan sport utility vehicle, as the high-end British automaker¡¯s biggest-ever model has proved popular with its ultra-rich clientele.
Production of the SUV, which starts at $325,000 before customization ¡ª and almost all Rolls-Royce customers go for bespoke additions ¡ª is booked solid until the fourth quarter of 2019, Chief Executive Officer Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes said.
¡°It¡¯s exceeding our expectations,¡± Mueller-Oetvoes said Tuesday in an interview at the Geneva International Motor Show. ¡°We have customers that aren¡¯t patient and want their car tomorrow, so we¡¯re doing the occasional Saturday shift to meet demand.¡±
Rolls-Royce, owned by Munich-based premium-auto maker BMW AG, aimed the Cullinan squarely at the SUV-loving American market when it was launched in September. The model is also finding a lot of fans in Russia and Canada, two markets that weren¡¯t as big for the U.K. company before, Mueller-Oetvoes said.
¡°The all-wheel drive is attractive for those markets,¡± he said.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.