Not to be outdone by Bentley's recent SUV announcement, Rolls-Royce is back in the luxury SUV frame with the biggest hint yet the British marque will soon be catering to the whims of is well-heeled clientele. Speaking with Top Gear, BMW board member in charge of Rolls-Royce Peter Schwarzenbauer said: "There are long-term independent studies that say half the world car market – 50 per cent of everything – will be crossovers and SUVs. So it's our responsibility to look into it.

We are seriously analysing a Rolls-Royce in the SUV area." BMW and Porsche have both had phenomenal success with their SUV models, and while work will first be done to make sure an SUV would be "a true Rolls-Royce" it's only a matter of time before the project is green lit. Meanwhile, Jolyon Nash, Rolls-Royce global sales and marketing chief, told Autocar that "If we don't come up with something that is truly a Rolls-Royce, then we won't be entering the segment." The problem is that the words 'sports' and 'utility' are not normally associated with Rolls-Royce so designers will have to design "a concept that fits Rolls-Royce." We'll be interested to see what they come up with.