Saar: The Brits have joined hands with National Geographic to capture and publish a daily film and photographs revolving around the final testing stages of the first-ever Rolls-Royce SUV.

When it comes to doing things properly, Rolls-Royce doesn’t disappoint. The BMW-owned ultra-luxury carmaker has announced that its first-ever SUV, the Cullinan, will make its global debut later this year. However, before that happens, the Cullinan’s test mule will be put through some of the toughest terrains that the Northern Europe, the Middle East and the United States have in store. This will be the final phase of testing and the British carmaker is calling it as ‘The Final Challenge’ to prove itself ‘Effortless Everywhere’.

To flaunt the Cullinan’s capability over varied terrains, Rolls-Royce has tied-up with National Geographic to capture and publish a daily film and photographs of the entire final testing phase. Rolls-Royce says that this phase will begin in the highlands of Scotland on April 4, which is today. Then it will move on to the Alpine snowfields of Austria before, the deserts of the Middle East before entering the United States, where the testing will end. If you are willing to follow it, expect a lot of off-road action and extended runs through rough terrains.

During their entire trip, the Rolls-Royce Crew will be accompanied by Cory Richards who, in 2012, was named National Geographic’s Adventurer of the Year. In a press release, Torsten Müller-Ötvös, CEO, Rolls-Royce, said, “I promised the public three years ago that I would involve them in the development and testing of the Rolls-Royce Cullinan, and I continue to keep that promise by making The Final Challenge, a public trial. Today’s public and customers will see Rolls-Royce in a wholly new light as Cullinan demonstrates just how capable a Rolls-Royce can be. And in a few short months, our customers will be able to experience this capability for themselves as they get behind the wheel of this truly compelling Rolls-Royce that is Effortless, Everywhere.”

As mentioned by the man himself, Rolls-Royce began fine-tuning the Cullinan’s recipe three years ago. As is the case will all Rolls-Royce products, the Cullinan is destined to take the game of luxury and potent SUVs to a whole new level. But since we are car bores, let’s also get the numbers game out in the open. Underneath the dominating exterior, is the same platform that also underpins the Phantom. That means the Cullinan will most likely have the same 6.75-litre V12 engine as well, albeit with a sophisticated and well-spoken four-wheel drive system.

That said, don’t ever expect a diesel under the hood. They are just too noisy for a Rolls-Royce customer. What we do expect is the eggheads from BMW to inject a hybrid powertrain in the Rolls-Royce Cullinan. However, that is unlikely to happen at the time of launch and will be reserved as a “Greener” variant addition at a later stage.