Indian Autos blog

The land which has the maximum number of residents living below the poverty line is the new hotbed for super luxury automotive marquees. Rolls Royce and Bentley are in the process of expanding their foothold in India as they believe that super-luxury vehicle sales are expected to quadruple by the end of the decade.

Why are they expecting such a huge demand you ask? CLSA Asia-Pacific estimates the number of millionaires will surge to 403,000 by 2015 from 173,000 in 2010.

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Ford unleashed a barrage of images and details of the Torneo Custom Concept that heralds the company into a new generation of passenger carriers and commercial vehicles. The Torneo Concept debuts a host of new technologies and driver assistance modules. The first models based on the Torneo concept will roll out in 2012. The new vans and light truck series is designed for European and Asian market customers.

Bentley has revealed the EXP 9 F luxury SUV concept at the Geneva show to ask customers and potential customers their feedback for a potential third Bentley model. Bentley’s research revealed that many of its buyers drive SUVs of rival brands. The EXP 9 F will be shaped carefully using the comments and inputs of its clients. It could be the most luxurious SUV in the world with benchmark-setting key performance parameters such as top speed and acceleration, credit to the 600bhp 6-liter W12 petrol engine.

Ford has finished premiering the B-Max mini MPV which essentially is a larger Fiesta hatchback with sliding doors and no B-Pillar. It is powered by the same 1-liter Ecoboost petrol engine, but due to the increase in length and height, interior room has vastly improved. The B-Max uses the same 1.5-liter diesel engine as the Indian Fiesta, thereby debuting the engine in Europe.

On the eve of the 82nd Geneva Motor Show, Rolls Royce has given the big old Phantom a much needed facelift, nine years after it first debuted. Although it is not a comprehensive facelift, it does include minor cosmetic enhancements, some more tech goodies and changes to the drivetrain. This the first makeover for the Roller that was unveiled back in 2003.

The million-dollar baby of the auto industry, Rolls Royce, extends its footprint in India by the inauguration of a new dealership named Select Cars Pvt Ltd in Chandigarh. Rolls Royce is the undisputed king of the super-luxury car market, and shares a century old history with India. The company has seen demand rising consistently for its cars in the states of both Punjab and Haryana and with both sharing Chandigarh as their capital, it was like getting two birds with one stone!

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The Rolls Royce Phantom was the definitive car that welcomed the 100 year old brand into the 21^st century. The RR Phantom, almost a by-word for ‘classy and cool’, is still the big daddy of super expensive Limos as the VW Group’s Bentley plays catch up.

However, as many accolades as the Phantom has won in the last 7 years, the fact remains that the car was launched in 2003 and an upgrade is overdue. The upgrade become nearly necessary when you know that Mercedes’s Maybach is officially dead and Bentley is trying its level best to hijack a couple of Maybach’s celebrity customers for publicity and brand building.

Luxury car firm Rolls Royce, bowled over by the reception to its renewed range in India, is planning to add two dealers, taking the total to five, its Business Development head told reporters recently in Hyderabad. The official had flown down to inaugurate Kun Motoren, the British super-luxury brand’s new dealership in Hyderabad that is fully operational by mid-2012.

It plans to appoint one dealer in north India and the second either in central or south India. Over 200 Rolls Royce cars have been sold to customers since 2005 and the company is struggling to meet demand of the recently launched Ghost model.

In a country where even cramped hatchbacks are chauffeur driven, long wheelbase versions are bound to succeed. Knowing the market so well, the biggest marquee in super luxury segment, Rolls Royce, has pulled the cover off the long wheel base version of their most successful model in India – the Ghost.

The Ghost is the entry level limousine that Rolls Royce offers to welcome new customers to the brand. It is the most successful product across the globe because a lot of people who were planning to buy a Mercedes S Class or the Audi A8 suddenly saw the spirit of ecstasy in their sight.

The reason why RR is able to offer the Ghost as a lower price is because it did not develop the Ghost platform.

The Ghost is not a bespoke Rolls Royce; it is in fact a BMW 7 Series underneath. However, the boffins at the Goodwood plant have made sure that the connection isn’t so evident. Powered by a 6.6 litre, V12 that that pokes 563 ponies and 780 Nm of torque, the Ghost can do a 0-100 run in 5 seconds.

The long wheelbase version of the Ghost will set you back by a whopping 3.05 crores. Don’t try to sell your organs, you still won’t be able to reach that figure even if your heart is made of gold

After an absence of 50 years, the RR badge returned to India and boy were they surprised to know how popular they are over here. In fact, now they are facing another problem in this market. The demand is outstripping supply by miles and the company is struggling to meet its commitments. Torsten Muller Otvos, Global chief executive of Rolls Royce Motor Cars – We couldn’t keep up with the  [ Read More ]

Right from the British Raj, India has always loved Rolls Royce, even more than Mercedes. Most of our Maharajas used to have one (or more than one in some cases) parked in their garages for special visits of their empire. Some even pimped them up with ivory, peacock feathers and diamonds (Yea! 50 Cents move over, we started it way back)

Well, the golden age has returned with India being the 3rd largest market for RR in the Asia Pacific region, after China and Japan. The company is projecting sales of up to 70 units in the coming year. That’s 7 times of what it sold last time!

The company has currently two dealerships in Delhi and Mumbai with a total 5 variants of the Ghost and Phantom on sale priced between 2 to 5 crore rupees. The company is banking on the 7 Series-based Ghost model to drive in majority of the sales.

Globally, the company has had a very successful year and has managed to double its sales with over 2000 units!

Even internationally, majority of the sales have been brought by the Ghost by contributing over three-quarters of Rolls total sales. The company has also plans to introduce long-wheelbase, Drophead coupe and coupe versions of the Ghost very soon.

The Ghost is an entry level Rolls Royce which is built on the BMW 7 series platform and is targeted towards the young buyers who are new to the marque.