Typically when we think of vehicles that cost $200,000 dollars, vehicles like Lamborghinis or Aston Martins often come to mind, not SUV’s. As popular as sport utility vehicles are, we often associate them with being relatively more affordable that high-end supercars or ultra-premium luxury sedans like Maybachs. Despite those stereotypes it seems that the super high-end SUV is now a thing as many notable car manufacturers are committed to bringing SUV’s that cost $200,000 dollars into the market. Sales figures tell us that despite gas prices and the want for more environmentally friendly vehicles, people really want luxury SUV’s. First it was the $200,000 Rage Rover SV Autobiography that got the trend going, and now companies like Rolls-Royce, Maserati, Bentley, Mercedes-Benz, and many others have plans to launch extremely expensive SUV’s.
So how exactly does an SUV cost that much? For sports cars a price like that is largely attributed to the fact that cars like Ferraris are some of the highest-performing vehicles that you can legally drive on the road. SUV’s on the other hand are much larger and bulkier, meaning they simply cannot compete in that respect, but they certainly are going to try. The $218,000 Mercedes-Benz G65 AMG, for example, has a V12 engine that pumps out 621hp a fairly crazy figure given the type of vehicle it is and many other manufactures are following suit. As Lamborghini, Bentley, Aston Martin, Rolls-Royce, and many others have plans to produce an SUV, we expect very similar stats.
One of the main reason that someone purchases an SUV is size; they are simply some of the largest personal vehicles that you can own. So it makes sense that many luxury car brands want to produce high-end SUV’s. More space allows you to pack in more luxury features. As great as luxury sedans are, SUV’s simply have more room meaning they have the potential to be more comfortable. But still, is there a demand for SUV’s that cost $200,000? As it turns out, there is.
The North American, Asian, and Middle Eastern markets have been devouring luxury SUV’s and they are demanding more. Much more. Vehicles like high-end Range Rovers have been selling like hot cakes recently, but they haven’t completely quenched the thirst of buyers who want even more luxurious SUV’s with premium features and massive V12 engines. All the brands that we mentioned expect that their new, $200,000 plus SUV’s will be extremely popular, and it seems like they’re right.
So are these vehicles extremely unnecessary? Maybe. But one things for sure, within the next four years we are going to be seeing a lot of truly impressive SUV’s and I for one am looking forward to what a SUV from Lamborghini or Bentley will be like. It seems like we are in the early stages of witnessing a new class of vehicles being born: the super-SUV.
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