Rolls Royce rolls out Ghost

British super-luxury car manufacturer, Rolls Royce, unveiled an all-new, four-door, premium saloon model called the Ghost here today. It is priced at about Rs 2.5 crore each and will be available in the country in the second quarter of 2010.
The company hopes to sell 50 to 60 Ghosts in the domestic market each year. Since Rolls Royce cars are made to order, and exclusively manufactured in the company’s UK facility, the time taken for delivery is between two to three months after a booking.

The Ghost, earlier code-named RR4 and popularly tagged as ‘Baby Rolls Royce’, is smaller in dimensions than the company’s current Phantom model and is aimed at widening the appeal of the brand. “Ghost is a more informal design that broadens the appeal of Rolls Royce cars,” said Colin Kelly, Asia Pacific Regional Director.

Rolls Royce sold 1,212 units of the super-luxury cars last year, in which India accounted for around two per cent of total global sales. As an indication of India’s growing importance for Rolls Royce cars, the interior of the new Ghost incorporates wood sourced from Kerala. “This wood is called the Malabar variety and our preferred clientele like the straight-grain finish the Malabar wood exudes,” says Dan Balmer, product manager of Ghost. The Malabar wood will be used in 15 per cent of the Ghosts that will be rolled out next year. Other variants of wood that will be used in the construction of Rolls Royce’s luxurious interiors are dark wenge wood from Africa, walnut burr and elm cluster sourced from the UK, and the common piano black wood.

Next year, after the roll out of the Ghost, the company hopes to sell around 70 Rolls Royce cars in the domestic market, 60 being the Ghost and the rest being Phantoms. The latter costs about Rs 3.5 crore each.

Rolls-Royce joins Volvo in exclusive club

The 2010 Rolls-Royce model line has something very distinctly in common with all new Volvos. It has nothing to do with the engines, safety ratings, comfort, or design. Nope, none of that. Any guesses?

Rolls-Royce joins Volvo as the only manufacturers to offer HD radio as a standard feature in every model. Of course that’s only the new Ghost and three different variants of the Phantom. Previously HD radio was only an option, but someone high-up in Rolls-Royce probably enjoys listening to AM HD radio and wanted to make sure everyone had access to it.

Mercedes-Benz also is slowly rolling out the radio option and it’s a standard option in many model’s premium feature packages and Audi previously stated that that by 2011 all models will have it as well.

Electric Rolls Royce On Road Within The Year?

You know electric cars are serious when even Rolls Royce is considering ditching fossil fuel for electrons. The maker of luxury cars renowned the world over for their opulence is seriously considering having an electric version of its luxo-bargo Phantom on the road as early as next year... just in time for the 2012 Olympics being held in its native London.

But will an electric Rolls work?

The answer is, probably. Right now, most electric cars are priced out of range for the average consumer, such as the Fisker Karma and Tesla Roadster. Mostly, this is the cost of the heavy batteries. But Rolls Royce already makes some of the heaviest cars around, so what is a few hundred extra pounds in battery weight?


Also, the average Rolls Royce does much less driving compared with most cars. Annually, the average mileage for a Rolls Royce Phantom used be about 2,000 miles a year, or about 5.5 miles per day. Even though that mileage has been increasing according to Rolls Royce, they still rack up just 6,000 miles annually, about half the average American car. So, in theory, it is still quite feasible that an electric Rolls might make more sense than most commuter cars. Plus, the extra cost is of little concern for someone who can even consider buying a Rolls.

On the flip side, Rolls Royces are produced in such small numbers that any impact they have on the impact of driving is pretty much negligible... but sometimes, it is the thought that counts.

Rolls Royce is currently owned by BMW, who also owns and produces MINI. Therefore in all likelihood the technology developed for the electric MINI-E might in some way shape or form find its way into the Rolls. Of course, there are still a few problems to smooth out with the MINI-E, but nothing insurmountable.

Rolls-Royce to produce luxury minis in UK

Rolls-Royce will produce luxury versions of the Mini in its Goodwood factory. This sounds a bit daft until you remember that in the 60s several companies built posh versions of the original Mini.

The most famous was the Radford Mini, one of which was owned by Peter Sellers.

Although nothing official has been announced, it's likely Rolls will concentrate on fitting luxury trim and bespoke custom-made accessories.

From the outside, it still looks like a MINI