Luxury automaker Rolls-Royce is defying the gloomy economic mood, forecasting Asian sales to triple to 450 vehicles this year and opening a new dealership in Malaysia. The firm said it is expecting strong interest in its new lower-cost Ghost model, a snip at 250,000 dollars plus taxes, and pent-up demand from last year when sales dropped as conspicuous consumption went out of style.
"This year will be very different from last year because this year we are adding a new model line in Asia," said South and East Asia Pacific head Brenda Pek. "We are expecting to triple the volume of sales in the region with the introduction of the Ghost," she told AFP, adding that the Britain-based company moved just 150 vehicles in Asia in 2009. In 2008 it sold 1,212 vehicles globally including 200 in Asia.
Rolls-Royce is tipping world-wide sales to hit 2,500 this year, well up from 2009 when it moved just 1,002 of its super-luxury cars as it was hit by the financial downturn. "Its not a case of people who couldn't afford to buy the car, I think it just wasn't the right time to show your wealth," said Asia-Pacific director Colin Kelly, adding that many customers delayed their purchases as a result.
"The lifestyle of the people who actually aspire to buy this car are people who work very hard, are extremely successful... who want something that not everybody else can have," he said.
Rolls-Royce is now banking on the Ghost, a smaller and cheaper model than the top-of-the-range Phantom which sells for 450,000 dollars. However, the price tag of 250,000 dollars does not include delivery costs and taxes, which can be very high in Asia, as well as optional extras such as massage seats and a panoramic sunroof.
Rolls-Royce has teamed up with BMW dealer Quill Automobiles in Malaysia to establish the company's 18th dealership in Asia. "We follow very closely what we call the ultra high net worth individuals and by definition these people have got 30 million dollars in cash," said Pek.
"We track where these people are and we assess whether that's an opportunity for us in that market before we are present there," she said. Rolls-Royce, long a popular choice for Malaysian sultans, hopes to sell 10 vehicles in Malaysia this year, said Quill Automobiles director Michael Ong.