Next-gen Rolls-Royce Phantom leaked

Rolls-Royce has been the victim of an online leak in China which has partially revealed its all-new eighth-generation Phantom.

The images, which surfaced late last night, were leaked and posted on Chinese-based autohome.com and offer the first glimpse of the British car maker's luxury behemoth.

It's clear the new Phantom, on-sale next year, is heavily inspired by last year's 103EX concept, meaning it retains the current generation's near vertical grille which gives the Roller such an imposing frontal view.

From our first glance of the Phantom, it appears the existing car's already generous, proportions have been increased further for the latest instalment.

Featuring a new pair of LED headlamps, the new Phantom's nose now includes additional air intakes to feed the twin-turbo 6.6-litre V12 petrol engine, which is a development of the powerplant used in Rolls-Royce's Ghost, Wraith and Dawn models.

A plug-in hybrid drivetrain will join the range soon after launch.

Inside, on first glance, the next Phantom seems to adopt a paired-back, minimalist design (at least by Rolls-Royce standards), but lurking behind the silver wood is thought to be a huge infotainment system packed with the latest in-car technology, including gesture control, from parent company BMW.

Like before, the Phantom will be based on a full aluminium architecture which is unique to the British brand. To optimise returns on that substantial investment, the same platform will underpin Rolls-Royce's forthcoming Cullinan SUV.

That Cullinan link is driving speculation the all-wheel drive hardware could one day be shared with the Phantom.

This latest example of China's inept internet security, which facilitated these leaked images, will be particularly galling for Rolls-Royce as the eight generation Phantom model is scheduled for its official global unveiling next week (July 27).