07 Jan 07
It's boom time for Rolls-Royce, which unveiled the Drophead Coupe version of the Phantom at the Detroit Motor Show, four years after the first of the BMW-era Rollers was launched at the same venue.
Chairman and chief executive Ian Robertson said the company's sales in 2006 were the highest for 16 years, with 805 Phantoms being delivered. It was, he added, the world's biggest selling car priced over $200,000.
Now being sold in almost 60 countries, the Phantom's biggest market was the USA, followed by the UK, with strong growth in Asia, particularly China. Almost 20% of 2006's Phantom sales were the long-wheelbase version; in Asia and the Middle East, the figure was nearer 30%. Robertson observed that Tokyo was now the company's joint-biggest dealership (with Beverly Hills), followed by London and then Dubai.
And, after the Phantom Drophead Coupe, there's more to come. Construction work is already underway at the Goodwood factory in preparation for the smaller Rolls due to be launched towards the end of the decade, priced $250,000-$300,000.
