Rolls Royce previews its Rs 2.5-crore ‘Ghost’ in India

That Rolls Royce is banking big time on the Indian market, more so with the number of billionaires in the country ever on the increase, is evident from the fact that the British carmaker's still-to-be-launched super-luxury sedan, the 'Ghost,' was previewed in India on Friday!

The most economical of the cars from the well-known maker of the most elite, premium, hand-crafted cars, the Rolls Royce's Ghost will cost Rs 2.5 crore in India.

The company, which currently sells 15-18 units in India, expects its sales in the country to undergo a nearly four-fold increase, to over 75 units, after the next-year launch of the Ghost.

Speaking at the preview of the Ghost, Colin Kelly, Rolls Royce Motor Cars' regional director for Asia-Pacific region, said: "India is one of the fastest wealth growing nations in the world; and we expect to see an over 300% jump in salesin India next year after the launch of Ghost in the second quarter of 2010."

Noting that the built-to-order Ghost will be the Rolls Royce's first new model series' vehicle to detach from the Phantom family, Kelly added that the new drivetrain sedan comprise a 6.6 litre twin- turbo charged V12 engine, as well as a new 8-speed automatic gearbox. The peak power output of the vehicle, which can race from 0-100kmph in 4.9 seconds, will be 563bhp at 5250rpm.

“Star of India” To Fetch 10,000,000 Euros ?

This car that you see above is the 1935 Rolls Royce Phantom II 40/50 HP Continental “All-Weather Convertible” which was custom made for the erstwhile Maharaja of Rajkot. This is a car which is also known as the “Star of India” amongst the Rolls Royce aficionados.

This Rolls Royce will soon be auctioned for an asking price of 10,000,000 Euros. While you keep counting those zeroes suffixing the numeral One and breaking your head hard to convert it into Indian Rupees we will quickly brief you about this Phantom, er, Car.

This car is one of special cars in the vast private collection of cars belonging to Hans-Günther Zach. Zach has a private museum in Mühlheim, Germany which houses around 27 cars (24 Rolls-Royces and 3 Bentleys) many of which belong to the pre-war period. Mind you, Zach is one crazy Rolls-Royce buff and yes of course it shows.

But now, probably recession has really hit everybody real hard as that shows too because Zach is planning to sell the entire private collection of cars and it is the “Star of India” which will be auctioned for this astronomical sum. If sold at the auctioned price, this Rolls Royce will be the costliest car ever sold in the face of earth.



The body of this Rolls, as we have earlier mentioned was custom built by Thrupp & Maberly and is painted in saffron ochre finish and aluminium. This 7.7-liter pushrod straight-six is a seven-seater with the interiors also decked up in saffron, a colour regarded as auspicious in India and carries a whopping fourteen headlights, which gives the car a superior appearance.

To top it all, this car has on it an inscription which reads “An impartial ruler of men of all faiths.”

Now for the real puzzle, If Zach, being aware of the economic slowdown, still puts a huge price for his Star, then he should be equally confident that he will get a buyer for his precious procession. But, who could be the buyer, who is least affected by the economic meltdown.

Ghost may prise open India for Rolls-Royce

At about half the price of the firm’s Phantom, the new model will be in showrooms by the end of the year



Car maker Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, part of BMW AG, has said it plans to introduce the Ghost, a new global model, in India by the year-end. This comes right after the launch of marquee brands Jaguar and Land Rover by Tata Motors Ltd on Sunday.

The Ghost, which is to be unveiled formally at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, will be on display in showrooms in November or December, said Colin Kelly, regional director, Asia Pacific, at Rolls-Royce in a phone interview on Monday.

A formal launch would be followed by events designed for prospective customers only. “Our cars are made to order and so our marketing is made to order as well,” said Kelly. Bookings and deliveries for the car, which will cost nearly double than the popular Jaguar models, would commence in 2010.
“The Ghost is a Rolls you can drive everyday,” is how chief executive Tom Purves had described the car in an interaction with Mint in May.

Indeed, the car comes at a price that is nearly half that of the company’s present offering, the Phantom. The company expects to price the car between $250,000 and $270,000 (Rs1.2-1.3 crore) before taxes and import duties, which can easily double the price. With the less expensive tag, Rolls-Royce hopes to substantially increase the number of cars it sells in India. There are at present around 200 Rolls-Royce cars in the country.

Last year, the firm sold 14 cars in India through two dealerships in New Delhi and Mumbai and it expects to sell about as many cars this year. “(Next year) we expect to sell two-three times what we sold in 2008,” Kelly said.

The Ghost should also help the firm reach 3,000 cars in global sales by 2010. Last year, it sold 1,212 cars worldwide.

According to Kelly, Indian buyers of Rolls-Royce are very similar to counterparts globally. They tend to be hard working wealthy individuals. But they differ in the amount and type of personalization they like to have in their cars. “This could be anything from the person’s initials to the company logo embroidered into the headrest of the car,” he said.

“There are no plans to expand the number of dealerships in India as of now,” he added. The company would, however, look at setting up service only facilities in cities where the number of cars warranted them. It usually waits for a city to have a dozen cars before it considers setting up such a facility.

At present, the Indian market is about one-eighth the size of the Chinese market and one-third of the Japanese market but it’s a gap that the firm believes could narrow substantially in the next few years.
A recent Capgemini-Merrill Lynch Wealth Report noted that India has about 1,000 individuals with at least $40 million in liquid assets. Rolls considers each of them potential customers.

Ultra-luxury carmakers bullish on India

Even though ultra-luxury carmakers like Bentley, Rolls Royce et al are bearish about the American and other developed markets, their sentiments are understood to be quite bullish towards emerging markets like India. Despite the Indian auto industry expected to grow by 7 per cent only in the current fiscal year, sales of super luxury cars is expected to grow by 20 per cent over the next few years. It is widely believed that the burgeoning nouveau riches have been the main factors responsible for brisk sales of such models.

A super luxury car is retailed above Rs. 1.5 crore, including the import duty on CBUs. Since such cars are hand-crafted and not assembled by machines, it takes at least six months to deliver to any customer after the order is placed.



Bentley Motors Limited, an English manufacturer of ultra-luxury automobiles, has launched the Bentley Continental Flying Spur Speed (a high-speed variant of its existing model, Continental Flying Spur), on 10th October'08, at New Delhi in India. The car is touted to be the world's fastest four-door car. With a product profile consisting of the Bentley Arnage, the Continental GT and now the Flying Spur Speed, Bentley Motors has introduced only top-end saloons in India so far. Priced at Rs. 2.5 crore (ex-showroom Delhi), the car would be imported as a Completely Built Units (CBU). It would be available through Delhi-based Exclusive Motors Private Ltd. The company plans to operate through the exclusive dealership model in India as it operates globally the same way. Bentley is hoping to sell around 10 units of the Flying Spur family in the Indian market. Moreover, this year Bentley achieved its annual target of selling 25 cars in just eight months. Similar has been the situation with Rolls Royce. Bentley grew by 20 per cent last year and expect to clock similar growth in the country this year. Since commencing its operations in India 2003, it has sold over 100 Bentleys in India and some of its customers own between 2-3 Bentleys.

According to a senior representative of Bentley Motors (Middle East, Africa and India), the company has long term plans for the Indian market and will stay focused on our high-end saloon. He added that the company experienced a huge growth in the Indian market over the past year. He also stated that India is a saloon market and the company will continue focus on this segment. He indicated that in order widen its product portfolio in the country; all its future models will be simultaneously launched in India along with the global market. He added that the Indian automaker is allotted quota of 25 cars a year and by August'08, its order book has been full.



Rolls Royce Motor Cars, the manufacturers of super-luxury Phantom, has said that it is banking heavily on the Indian market for pushing up its volumes. On the sidelines of launching its new showroom in Delhi, the company has indicated that it is aiming to notch up 70 cars in the country by 2013, citing the country to be to emerge as the single-biggest market in the Asia-Pacific region in the next five years where it is targeting the top end of the personalised car market. It has also been learnt that he BMW subsidiary is rolling out a slew of new models at its facility in Goodwood, England, and plans launch it in India in the next few years. Moreover, its RR4, a smaller luxury saloon than Phantom, will hit the Indian roads by 2010. Besides, a Phantom coupe with different powertrain option is also on the cards. Rolls-Royce's new car RR4, a smaller ultra-luxury saloon than its current Phantom model, will be launched in India in the next two years.

According to a senior representative of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the new family will not compete with Phantom, but it will be the second most expensive in the world. He stated that the company has discerned a huge chunk of ultra-high net worth individuals in India, which make the market very impressive for it. He also added that it is scaling up its production capacity in England from 1,000 units to 3,000 units. A Rolls Royce dealer in Mumbai has claimed that it has already crossed its target of 8-10 units by June'08. The dealer is tipped to be receiving orders for another 10 units by the end of this year.

The number of high networth individuals earning over a million dollar in India is estimated at 50,000. Moreover, the market for super luxury cars in India is ballparked between 20-30 cars annually.

Rolls-Royce aims to drive in over 70 cars to India by 2013

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, maker of the ultra-luxury Phantom, is betting big on the Indian market.



After selling 12 of its hand-crafted uber-premium cars in India in 2007, the company is looking at much bigger orders from this market. India is all set to emerge as the single-biggest market in the Asia-Pacific region in the next five years.



Rolls-Royce aims to sell over 70 cars in India by 2013. The BMW group company is currently developing the new range of cars at its facility in Goodwood, England, and plans to introduce the new models in India in the next few years.



Rolls-Royce director (sales & marketing) Graema Grieve said: “The new family will not compete with Phantom, but it will be the second most expensive in the world. We have seen a massive rise in the number of ultra-high networth individuals in India, which make the market very impressive for us. As an exclusive brand, we are looking at the top end of the personalised car market and we expect India to emerge as the largest market in the Asia-Pacific region in the next five years.”

Rolls-Royce to drive in new range of cars to India by 2010

Super luxury carmaker Rolls-Royce will introduce new range of cars, which it is currently developing, in India by mid-2010 as it looks to cash in on the burgeoning number of billionaires.
The company is also expanding its current portfolio in the country and will launch a new model, Phantom Coupe, this year, expected to be priced over Rs 3.5 crore.

"We are working on an additional range of cars, which will allow us to expand the brand further. The new family will not compete with the Phantom, but it will be the second most expensive in the world," Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Director (Sales and Marketing) Graeme Grieve told reporters here.

"It will come to the Indian market by mid-2010," he added The BMW group company is currently developing the new range of cars at its facility in Goodwood, England.

Rolls-Royce currently offers three products -- Phantom, Phantom EWB and Phantom Drophead Coupe -- in India. These models are priced at Rs 3.15 crore (ex-showroom) upwards.

"With the growing demand for our cars in India, we will be launching here our fourth car in Phantom family, Coupe, around November," Rolls-Royce Motor Cars General Manager (South and East Asia Pacific) Matthew J Bennett said.

The car is priced at about 4,00,000 dollar (over Rs 1.82 crore) in the international market. The vehicle in India would attract an import duty of over 110 per cent.

The company, which reentered India in 2005, has since sold about 30 cars, including 12 units last year.

"This year, we have already sold 12 cars. If we can sell 16 cars in this year, we will be very happy," Bennett said.

After Mumbai, the company today inaugurated its second dealership in the National Capital.

Last year, Rolls-Royce sold 1,010 cars through 82 dealers across the world.

Tata Motors may revive Daimler

TATA Group chairman Ratan Tata has told investors he is considering making a super- luxury version of the car that is a favourite of Britain’s reigning monarch, a British daily reported on Monday.

Ratan Tata, whose Tata Motors bought the marque as part of its $ 2.3- billion purchase of Jaguar and Land Rover earlier this year, was looking to revive Daimler, the Times reported. The car, which is a favourite of Queen Elizabeth II, may be remodeled into a super- luxury version to rival Bentley and Rolls- Royce — funded from a kitty of a billion pounds earmarked to develop new models at Tata- owned manufacturing units in Britain.

The paper said Tata’s plans, which include selling these cars to rich customers in Britain, Asia, Russia and the Middle East, had the support of analysts. It quoted analyst Garel Rhys of Cardiff University as saying: “Tata could make a very good job of this, especially if they target the space between where the top of Jaguar’s current range ends and where manufacturers such as Bentley kick in. Daimler has a fantastic heritage.”