Rolls-Royce Planning to Expand Ghost Lineup with New Derivative

Rolls-Royce is planning a derivative of its Ghost uber-luxury sedan. The Ghost, which starts at US$245,000, is the 'baby' brother of the US$380,000 Phantom.

"I'm quite confident that we're going to see a Ghost derivative to come," said the British automaker's CEO, Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes in an interview reported by Bloomberg. "There's still a lot of potential in the market."

Mueller-Oetvoes would not elaborate on what the derivative would be, but hinted there may be more than one. The company is awaiting more feedback from its customers before committing to a bodystyle and timeframe for launch.

Rolls-Royce also announced that it is expanding its operations in China (the brand's biggest market after the United States), India and the Middle East. In spite of this, Mueller-Oetvoes has assured buyers that the brand will remain exclusive:

"We will definitely not end off in the tens of thousands of units. That's not the right strategy for us. Rolls-Royce always needs to stay very exclusive. We only build a car when there is a customer behind it."

Rolls-Royce suffered a 17% drop in sales in 2009 due to the global financial crisis. With the market now in recovery, Rolls aims to sell at least 2,000 cars in 2010. To date, the automaker has sold 1,467 cars worldwide, trailing Volkswagen-owned Bentley which had 2,489. Much of the growth has been attributed to the Ghost, which went on sale late last year.

By Tristan Hankins

Source: Bloomberg

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Fenice Milano Previews Ghost-based Diva, Rolls-Royce Fans Cringe In Horror

In an apparent homage to Mansory, creator of such elegant eyesores as a gold-and-blue Rolls-Royce Ghost and a pink Continental GT, Italian firm Fenice Milano has created a handful of garish photoshops as a warning to car fans everywhere. Guys, if you need some fresh ideas, just ask (I'm here all week).

The car seen here is Fenice Milano's "Diva" and, for all intents and purposes, it's the kind of Ghost the "Opulence" commercial guy would drive with his 'wimmens' and giraffe in the back.

This is not the kind of "Italian elegance and style" I have come to expect from the boot-shaped Mediterranean country known for beautiful women, beautiful suits, beautiful cars, and beautiful food.

For those brave enough to consider the Diva, the car will be available in three colors: navy, bronze, and white (with 24k gold flakes); all three colors and a variety of color schemes can be seen below.

Inside, the car gets biscuit leather and 24k gold throughout, optional Alcantara inserts for the more ergonomically-designed seats, and wood trim that is supposedly limited to teak or grey oak.

Performance boosts of some sort are also mentioned, though with something called the Diva there's no telling what the ECU/intake/exhaust mods will do for it. On a more positive note, at least their website has some nice music to listen to.

By Phil Alex

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