After unveiling the Cullinan in May this year, Rolls-Royce has now launched it in India. Priced at Rs 6.95 crore (ex-showroom India), it isn’t as expensive as we thought it would be. That said, it isn’t as pocket-friendly either to rules the sales charts anywhere in the world. Anyway, Cullinan is a special product for Rolls-Royce. Not only it is the first SUV to flaunt the ‘Spirit of Ecstasy’ but also is the first one to have foldable rear seats, an all-wheel-drive system and touch-sensitive infotainment system.

Let’s get the numbers game out of the way first. The Cullinan shares a lot of its behind-the-scenes stuff with the Rolls-Royce Phantom. Everything from the aluminium platform and the powertrain are shared between the two behemoths. Under the hood of the Rolls-Royce Cullinan lives a 6.75-litre, twin-turbo V12 engine that puts out 571PS of power and 850Nm of torque. Mated to the engine is an 8-speed automatic transmission which routes the power to the road via an all-wheel-drive system.

Even though the Cullinan is nearly 1.5 feet shorter than the Phantom and over 2 feet shorter than the Phantom Extended Wheelbase, the SUV, at 2,660 kg, still weighs 100kg and 50kg (unladen) more than them respectively. The Cullinan can hit 100kmph from a standstill in 5.2 seconds and reach an electronically limited top speed of 250kmph. To tackle the rough stuff, the SUV comes with auto-levelling air suspension, multiple drive modes and all-wheel-steering.

As you’d expect, the list of features is virtually endless. To name a few, the Cullinan gets Alertness Assist, 12-inch rear entertainment displays, a four-camera system with a panoramic view, active cruise control and collision warning system. The list also includes a cross-traffic warning system, panoramic glass roof, wireless mobile phone charger, lane departure and lane change warning, WiFi hotspot and a high-resolution head-up display.

The Rolls-Royce Cullinan is easily the most expensive production SUV in the world. Its closest rivals include the Range Rover SVAutobiography LWB and the Bentley Bentayga. While the former wears an ex-showroom price tag of around Rs 4 crore, the latter is priced at Rs 4.4 crore.