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Rolls-Royce Cullinan SUV reveals its rear to the cameras

Last week, Rolls-Royce released some official photos of its upcoming SUV, code-named Project Cullinan. The SUV was still wearing full camouflage, and we could only see the front half, but it was our first peak at the new vehicle. Now, thanks to one of our spy photographers, we can see the rest. Immediately noticeable are the rear-hinged, suicide-style rear doors. There appears to be a dummy handle at the trailing edge of the door, but there's no hiding the real thing, which match up nicely with the front handles. Also evident is the plain and simple roof line. No flashy curves here, just simple lines and angles. In fact, the profile of the rear hatch is a bit reminiscent of the Land Rover Range Rover. The hatch drops down to a low-profile rear bumper that features squared-off cutouts for the exhaust. There are couple more details we spot in these photos as well. The unmistakable Rolls-Royce grille looks a bit more rounded than what we saw in the official photos. The result is a more familial look to the Ghost-based Rolls-Royce models. Also noticeable is the strong shoulder line found on every Rolls that runs just below the windows from the headlights to the tail. We can't quite see the tail end of the feature line because of some false body work, but it certainly appears to run the length of the car. See for yourself in the gallery above. Related Video:

2021 Rolls-Royce Ghost makes its debut with fresh styling and a real Rolls platform

After just over 10 years, the Rolls-Royce Ghost is getting its second generation. This is an important moment, since the Ghost has been the luxury brand's bestseller. The result is a car that has changed significantly underneath to refine the things owners will see and experience. The exterior styling doesn't look drastically different at first, but looking closer reveals many significant changes. The trademark Rolls-Royce grille is wider and taller, and doesn't have a thick arcing border around it. The headlights are larger with sharper corners and angled slightly to sweep up towards the corners of the fascia. Moving along the sides show a similar profile to the old car, but the tail's trunk lid leans forward, as do the taillights. There's not a distinct ledge to the rear bumper, either, giving this new Ghost a sportier appearance. An extra bit of flair Rolls-Royce added is the illuminated grille. There are 20 LED lights in the top part that shine down onto the grille slats, which in turn reflect light outward. Under this new skin is a chassis that's exclusive to Rolls-Royce, unlike the old Ghost's BMW 7 Series-derived chassis. This new frame uses the flexible all-aluminum platform that underpins the new Phantom and the Cullinan. The car is also larger than its predecessor with 3.5 more inches of length and 1.2 inches of width. It all sits on independent air suspension at all four corners featuring some upper wishbone dampers at the front that Rolls-Royce says helps improve ride quality, though hasn't revealed detailed information on how it does so. It's supported by software that coordinates the reactions dictated by the suspension sensors, drive settings, all-wheel drive, four-wheel-steering (both new features for the Ghost), and even the navigation-controlled transmission to optimize driving performance and comfort. Powering the Ghost is Rolls-Royce's twin-turbocharged 6.75-liter V12. It makes 563 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque. Obviously only an automatic transmission is available, and power goes to all four wheels as previously mentioned. The Ghost's interior takes cues from the Phantom, with a full-width section encompassing the instruments, infotainment and an artistic dash panel, which we'll talk more about in a moment. Below that is a wood-finished panel incorporating some air vents and controls. Open-pore woods are available, including one that features aluminum in the wood grain.

BMW profit of $2.7B is down as automaker invests to keep luxury lead

Despite selling 6.6-percent more vehicles - a record by volume - and posting higher revenues in the second quarter of 2013, BMW Group's profit of 2.07 million euros ($2.75 billion) is down 8.8 percent from last year. Investments in new technology (e.g. the new i3) and personnel, in addition to a competitive market, are to blame, BMW states. But the automaker remains committed to its fiscal targets for 2013, which, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Norbert Reithofer, says will be "on a similar scale to 2012."
The BMW brand's sales performance in the first half of the year, which increased by 7.7 percent to 804,258 vehicles delivered, was good enough for it to maintain its lead in the luxury market, narrowly beating Audi, which delivered 780,510 vehicles, Automotive News reports. Mercedes-Benz delivered 694,433 vehicles to cement third place.