“Phantom is the longest-running car name in history. It’s synonymous with the people who made the world turn: kings and queens, megastars, celebrities, noble people, powerful people who define history. Phantom is a thread that connects world events.”
Quite the introduction to the new model from Rolls boss Torsten Müller-Ötvös, then. Important, much? But while the new Phantom arrives at a time when luxury cars are shifting away from traditional saloons and towards SUVs, there was no way that Rolls was going to let its upcoming Project Cullinan SUV, due in 2019, be the scene-setter for the new ‘Architecture of Luxury’ that will underpin all of its future models.
Rolls-Royce Phantom revealed as eighth-generation luxury flagship
Müller-Ötvös considers the Phantom to be the epitome of the luxury car; the SUV is all part of diversifying the brand and appealing to the fact that “ultra-high-end net worth is getting more fragmented”. It’s offering an alternative, not a replacement, and not something that will eclipse the Phantom.
Customers don’t order a Phantom, they commission one, often spending £1 million in the process. It makes up 15% of Rolls sales “every year”, says Müller- Ötvös , adding an emphatic “always” at the end.
He says Rolls doesn’t compete with other car makers. “Do people like a Ferrari or a Rolls-Royce?” he poses. “They like both. This is a luxury business. There’s no need to offer a car for A-to-B to buyers; they have multiple cars. These are luxury goods to enjoy. They are bespoke, fulfilling dreams. Only imagination is the limit.”
Join the debate
Add your comment
The rear exhausts are
If You`ve Got it.....Flaunt it.
It`s nice to see a great German luxury car showing the world what opulence is.
Awful, vacuous and ugly
Vulgarity on wheels anmd utterly pointless.