Car Throttle

Sales of luxury cars are increasingly greatly, and that is never more evident than at Rolls-Royce. With the ultra-expensive Phantom being the only model in in the lineup, the BMW 7-Series-based Ghost was introduced in order to increase sales. As can be expected, it is less expensive or in Rolls-Royce-speak more "accessible. Volkswagen-owned Bentley succeeded brilliantly in adding new models - the Continental lineup has been a huge success in growing sales for the brand. The same thing looks to be happening at Rolls-Royce with the Ghost - for 2010 Rolls-Royce is set to double its output over 2009. Expect the final tally to come in at around 2,500 units for the year, with profitability way up. With a solid success in the Ghost, Rolls-Royce isn't finished

Ultra-luxury cars like Bentley and Rolls-Royce aren't for customers particularly interested in hiding their wealth or not appearing ostentatious. Neither are exotics from Ferrari, Lamborghini and others. However, some customers choose to take things far further to make outrageous statements. Mansory is one such company that has been happy to oblige the tasteless. Remember the Mansory Rolls-Royce Ghost? You'd probably rather not. However, the company is seeking to offer a toned down offering, dubbed White Ghost. With a hint of sarcasm, we'd have to say that we think the Rolls-Royce Ghost is pretty good as it stands. However, there is always those who like to try to improve on near-perfection. In that regard, as far as the exterior, the White Ghost comes far closer than anything Mansory has tried with

The amount of introduced and planned hybrids, electric vehicles and range-extended electric vehicles has been quite numerous. It's a move that Rolls-Royce doesn't want to miss out on. Chief Executive Officer Tom Purves has commented on the possibility of an all-electric Rolls-Royce - and a Phantom has even been spotted with General Motors Hybrid badges (probably a joke). The Ghost is the brand's newest model, and is projected to more than double Rolls-Royce's brand volume. Given the increased amount of sales that Rolls-Royce wants to attract, Autocar says that a Ghost Hybrid is in the works. It isn't like producing it will be much of a stretch developmentally - the Ghost shares a platform and some components with the BMW 7-Series. BMW recently introduced a

Trickle, trickle. Rolls-Royce is really dragging this one out, aren't they? We saw the concept, then got a name announced, then heard about more variants and in among all of that, many spy shots of the car sans camouflage have been captured. The strategy must be working though: Rolls-Royce said it has received more than 10,000 "expressions of interest" in the Ghost, with around 1,500 of those "expressing a serious desire to own the vehicle." Your guess is as good as mine whether or not that means orders. 536 horsepower and 575 pound-feet to the wheels! Whoa! Talk about performance, the smaller Ghost is packing even more power than it's larger brother the Phantom. That power works out to a 0-60 time of 4.7 seconds,

The 7-Series based Ghost is coming and it promises to double Rolls-Royce's sales single-handedly. Many pictures of the car have been spotted completely uncovered. The Ghost looks nothing like the BMW 7-Series, but it is noticeably different from the Phantom in proportions. That seems to be Rolls-Royce's intention though. News has come that Rolls is planning an entire Ghost lineup, just like it's bigger brother the Phantom. I assume we'll be waiting a while to see them put into production though. It's a tried and true strategy; launch the model initially, ride the sales wave and then bring out new variants later to keep interest and create more sales. Rumors has it future models could include a coupe and a soft-top. They haven't been given the green light for production

As you probably know, Rolls-Royce had a record year in 2008, selling more cars and making more profits then ever. Of course they want to continue that as much as possible. The amazing thing is, according to Chief Executive Tom Purves, Rolls-Royce expects sales for 2009 to remain flat in comparison to 2008. In the midst of a severe economic downturn where every automaker has been hit, that is extremely impressive. The Phantom has been doing very well for itself, with the new variants Coupe and Drophead Coupe helping to increase sales in 2008 from 1010 to 1212 units, a 20 percent increase. For future growth though, Rolls-Royce is counting on the Ghost to grow the brand. At the Reuters Global Luxury Summit in London,Tom Purves commented on the world