Piers Fawkes: Can Luxury Keep Up With Technology?

The other day when I test drove an electronic concept car from Rolls Royce, I was invited to sit in the front seat of a $450,000 Century edition of their Phantom model. Sure the leather was soft like a foal’s skin, the carpet was thick like moss but–maybe because of the geek in me–I was quite disappointed.

Rolls Royce prides itself on creating cars that don’t compromise on power and technology on the inside, but they seem to forgotten that when it comes to what appears before the driver. The dashboard and AV system were unbelievably basic –not in an ‘analog-we’re-going-craft’ way but in a ‘we’re-not-in-touch-with-the-times’ way. We live in a world where the smartphone has changed the way we connect with each other and share information. This luxury motor seems to have technology from a couple of decades ago: simple speedometers and three audio buttons: AM, FM, CD…CD?!

Where’s the health monitoring steering wheel? Where’s the augmented reality windscreen? Why do (all) cars seem to provide less than a $450 smartphone these days?

Rolls Royce is a technology company crafting the most incredible combustion engines and cabin designs but as the driving experience continues to refocus from performance to the in-car journey experience, brands like Rolls Royce will have to work on the softer end of the tech to really be seen as innovators.

That said, the back has flat screens behind each seat–perhaps Rolls Royce just thinks that the passenger is the one that matters and the driver tends to just be the staff!

Rolls Royce