Kiwis get first taste of Cullinan
In New Zealand for the launch of the Cullinan was Rolls-Royce global client sales manager, Ian Grant, based in Singapore. We spoke to him about the luxury SUV.
What are you doing in Auckland over the next couple of days?
We’ve got the first drive in AsiaPacific for Cullinan. We have a number of journalists, from automotive through to luxury lifestyle, coming through. Also, we have the first customer drives of Cullinan.
It’s exciting for us and, to say the first drive, this is absolutely genuine. Outside the drives you’ve seen happening in the US, this is the first Asia-Pacific driving we’ve done, and the first Cullinans on the road here in New Zealand.
What’s your expectation for the Cullinan? Who’s the customer?
It’s been very interesting for us. The customers of Rolls-Royce are very, very loyal. But what we’re seeing globally, is around 50 per cent take up for new customers, conquest business to us. So it’s exciting, it’s introducing us to a new breed of customer, which is wonderful to see.
Of course, it’s a family-orientated vehicle. It’s got everything a RollsRoyce should deliver. Plus that acceptability factor, for the school run or something you might do. Actually, Auckland’s a lovely example of where the car could be used. You could be down in the bustling CBD on your business arrangements, then coming out to a property such as this one, where the car is more than able, more than capable to manage both terrains.
One of the progressive things we see about the New Zealand market is that they’re early adopters. So when we launched Dawn, which we worked together on, early orders came in New Zealand. When we launched Phantom and Black Badge, and now Cullinan, early orders are coming in. I think that shows the New Zealand customer is really interested to buy the next quality item that comes to the market. That’s something we appreciate about the market here.
It’s one of most anticipated launches of Rolls-Royce we’ve done. When the car was launched globally earlier in the year, I think it took many people’s breath away. How do you make a Rolls-Royce an SUV? And I think we’ve really delivered on becoming the RollsRoyce of SUVs.