Word: ghosts
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Ghost has been in the works for several years, well before the global economic meltdown. But the timing of the car's rollout this fall couldn't be better for the automaker. Although Rolls-Royce had a banner year in 2008, selling a record 1,212 Phantoms worldwide, the company has taken a substantial hit this year. Sales of the Phantom tanked by more than 34% in the first six months of 2009 as the superrich started to put the kibosh on their conspicuous consumption...
...have a car like the Ghost [coming out] right now is, of course, ideal," Purves says. Buyers may be attracted by not only the tens of thousands of dollars in savings, but also the ability to strike the right tone in a recession. "[The Ghost is] less ostentatious, so owners can give the impression that they're downsizing their Rolls-Royce," says Garel Rhys, president of Cardiff University's Centre for Automotive Industry Research. (See TIME's cars covers...
Because the Continental starts at $177,600, the decision by Rolls-Royce to price the Ghost at $245,000 was a "quite deliberate" maneuver to create a niche market just above Bentley's more affordable model, says Paul Newton, an automotive analyst for the consulting firm IHS Global Insight. (See the 50 worst cars of all time...
Rolls-Royce will start hand-building the cars at its south England plant in September, with the first deliveries scheduled to go out in early January. The company says it expects to sell about 2,000 Ghosts annually, although Purves says that may not happen until after the recession is over. "It's not at all a frothy environment [right now]," he admits. But analysts say the sales figure is a realistic goal. John Wormald, managing partner of the British automotive consultant Autopolis, says sales of the Ghost could eventually reach 5,000 a year...
Although the Ghost is being marketed as a downsized luxury car, a Rolls-Royce is still a Rolls-Royce. The new model is chock-full of exquisite details, from its soft leather seats to the wood-veneer finish of its Art Deco-inspired dashboard. The Ghost also boasts a 6.6-L V12 engine capable of top speeds of 155 m.p.h., but it still promises to provide a silky-smooth, ultra-quiet ride. (See the most important cars of all time...