Autocar 16/05/2018

VERY FEW CARS cross into mainstream popular consciousness, let alone a humble four-door saloon costing from £25,000. Yet the Tesla Model 3 has done just that: the whole world seemingly knows what it is and represents. And now it can be said: the Model 3 is not a mythical dream engulfed in “production hell” (according to Tesla boss Elon Musk), but a truly desirable, big-range, affordable, compact executive car that’s brilliant to drive and just half a star shy of a maximum five-star Autocar verdict on Matt Prior’s first acquaintance (p26). The Model 3 proves that Tesla can make a great car, but it still needs to become a great car company. Finding a way to reliably build and then supply Model 3s to the hundreds of thousands of people who so…

“The Cullinan is a full-capability off-roader ‘able to do whatever a Range Rover can do’” Rolls-Royce has bitten the bullet and created a super-luxury SUV designed to trump Range Rover and the Bentley Bentayga. Officially, it’s only three years since CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös revealed that his Goodwood-based company was planning a model to sit at the very top of the SUV market. But, by that stage, the Rolls-Royce off-roader idea had been simmering for a decade, not least because the marque’s BMW owners had been asking persistently for such a model. This week, the all-new, £250,000 Rolls-Royce Cullinan SUV is revealed, named appropriately after the world’s largest raw diamond, found in South Africa more than a century ago and now part of the crown jewels. Rather than being a mere high-bodied luxury car,…

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 that it would miss a slice of the SUV customer boom – but not a bit of it. The Cullinan could easily boost Rolls volume by 50% and fill the coffers quickly. We’ve seen enough smiling dealers’ faces (and heard enough stories of horse trading over bigger allocations) to know the car’s already a roaring success. But the success isn’t just the Cullinan. It’s the highly versatile aluminium spaceframe underneath. Introduced a year ago with the new Phantom, it’ll go progressively into every new Rolls from now on, maybe even some models they haven’t yet thought of. With the facilities now at its disposal, the Goodwood…

Just how important to Rolls-Royce’s future is the launch of Cullinan? “It’s enormously important. Cullinan redefines the parameters of super-luxury travel. Our customers have been waiting a long time for a motor car that offers uncompromised luxury wherever the owner dares to venture. Cullinan is that car.” Do you think the Cullinan’s arrival will change the Rolls-Royce brand? “Well, Cullinan is certainly a very big departure for us. We’re moving into the very top echelon of a highly competitive and thickly populated sector, so we will definitely meet customers we’ve not known before. But the big response to our latest cars shows that our brand values are clear and well understood.” How important are the latest Goodwood production changes to the Cullinan’s launch? “They are absolutely key. We needed our new architecture to have any…

You won’t find tourist buses in Unterhollerau. Not unless their occupants are touring automotive aluminium centres of excellence, which you’ve got to say is unlikely. But Unterhollerau is a vital and highly effective outpost of BMW – or, more accurately, Rolls-Royce. It may not be beautiful, but in these cream industrial buildings, every new Rolls-Royce will soon start its life – because every car will use the same chassis frame, trimmed to different widths, angles and dimensions according to model. I’m here to meet men who make this work: head of Rolls production concept Neil Crichton, Cullinan product manager Phil Harnett and two hugely experienced, grey-coated manufacturing gurus called Thomas and Manfred. I’ve been here before, but this time I’m going to learn what flexible architecture really means. Crichton, a happy Brit…

Anew 286bhp version of the Golf GTI has been unveiled as the TCR Concept by Volkswagen at the annual Wörthersee fan meet in Austria. The new hot hatch has been conceived to celebrate Volkswagen’s participation in the TCR (Touring Car Racing) championship, in which it provides factory support to privateer teams with a 345bhp track version of the Golf GTI. Although billed as a concept, the front-driven Golf GTI TCR has been confirmed for production later this year, with Volkswagen officials suggesting volumes will not be restricted in number. But the development of the new Mk8 Golf, planned for introduction in 2019, is already at an advanced state, so the road-going Mk7 Golf GTI TCR appears set for a relatively short production life. Power for the latest in a long line of Golf…