Despite the turmoil in global markets, Rolls-Royce is doing extraordinarily well. In fact, the above sentence is an understatement: while the recession seemed to hit the company in 2009, when it sold a little over 1,000 cars representing a 17.3% drop over the previous year, sales in 2010 were up by an amazing 171%.
And things are looking even better for 2011: in the first half of the year (January through June) Rolls-Royce recorded a 64.1% increase in sales delivering 1,592 units.
Two factors contributed to this accomplishment. The first was the introduction of the smaller Ghost, which attracted a younger clientele looking for a lower cost and more compact Rolls than the enormous Phantom.
Of course, “lower cost” is not exactly the right description for a $248,500 car. Nevertheless, it costs $130,000 less than the Phantom and it attracted buyers on average 10 years younger than the 60-year olds who usually buy the Phantom.
“The Ghost was intended to be the daily business tool and the car for the self-driver” says the brand’s CEO Torsten Muller-Otvos who compared the Ghost to a business suit and the Phantom to a tuxedo: “Phantom is the symbol, the pinnacle in terms of luxury. If you ‘re pulling up in front of a hotel, there’s no better car to do it”.
The second factor is the large increase in sales in China, which for the first time ever beat the UK in deliveries.
Most of the country’s buyers are also customizing their Rolls, further increasing its revenue: “It’s not bling-bling, at least not in a typical way” comments Muller-Otvos. “Our clients are obviously not short of money – they are just looking for the right moment to by such a car. It’s also connoisseurship, because they are investing in a masterpiece of art and engineering”.
Story Source: AOL
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