Another strong year of sales has confirmed the position of the Rolls-Royce Phantom as the world’s leading super-luxury car, parent company BMW claimed in a statement on Monday.
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Buyers from around 40 countries, including a number of emerging markets, accounted for sales of 796 cars last year, an increase of 0.5% over 2004 and a 15-year high for the brand.
A DaimlerChrysler UK spokeswoman declined to provide comparable figures for rival brand Maybach, saying the UK company did not comment on the marque’s sales volume.
However, a DaimlerChrysler AG press release on Monday said that, since the brand was revived in 2002, Maybach has delivered some 1,500 worldwide “in an economic environment that has been challenging for the entire luxury car sector”.
“More than 300 of these limousines were delivered in 2005,” the statement added.
BMW launched Rolls-Royce in Brazil, Nigeria, Chile, Bulgaria, Algeria, Poland, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan during 2005.
Worldwide, the top five dealers were spread across four continents. Beverly Hills in California, sometimes dubbed ‘the import brand centre of the US’, was top for the second year in succession, followed by Tokyo, London, Dubai and Abu Dhabi respectively.
Chairman and CEO Ian Robertson said: “We have enjoyed another strong year, with the Phantom now clearly established and the foundations laid for the launch of our new products over the coming months.”
Rolls-Royce is showing the extended wheelbase Phantom at the Detroit motor show this week and will launch it in North America by the end of 2006.
It will be the second model to be assembled at the company’s headquarters in Goodwood, England, and will be joined by a third new model line – a convertible – in 2007.
Robertson added: “While the extended wheelbase model is a highly specialised car we have already seen significant interest from North American buyers.”
