Rolls-Royce Phantom production to end

Rolls-Royce has announced that its current Phantom Coupe and Drophead Phantom will both be dropped without any new immediate replacements until an all-new model arrives in 2018.

Along with the large coupe and convertible, production of the Phantom standard wheelbase and long-wheelbase limousine will also end in 2016, according to reports, although the luxury British car-maker has yet to make an official announcement to confirm this.

All three cars will be replaced by an all-new from the ground up replacement but that car is not due until 2018, at the earliest.

Until then, buyers will only have the choice of the Ghost, Wraith coupe or Dawn convertible.

To say farewell to the Phantom Coupe and Drophead model, launched in 2007 and 2008 respectively, Rolls-Royce says it will commemorate the last 50 coupes and convertibles with a special edition called the “Phantom Zenith”.

Featuring a bespoke interior that includes a special Spirit of Ecstasy bonnet-mounted figurine and a unique-to-each-car laser etched armrest that celebrates the place where both the original concepts were unveiled, the final batch of cars are said to be a “money can’t buy” memento.

Production, says the British car-maker, will end later this year with the last coupe and convertibles rolling off the line this November.

It’s not known which month production of the big Phantom sedan ends but the luxury limousine, that first went on sale all the way back in 2003, is also expected to finish around the same time as the coupe and convertible.

Instead, the car-maker will focus its attention on launching its full-size SUV, the Cullinan.

To build anticipation for a Phantom replacement, the all-new car has already been pictured being tested in images released by Rolls-Royce.

Despite looking like the existing car in camo, the mule pictured, is believed to actually be all-new beneath its familiar Phantom skin.

Instead of being based on the existing Phantom platform, it’s more likely that the new car will ride on a development of the same aluminium architecture that sits beneath the all-new Cullinan SUV.

Bearing no relation to any other platform, the temptation might have been to use the big BMW 7 Series platform, but Rolls-Royce resisted.

Instead the next-gen Rolls’ platform has been designed and engineered from scratch.

This has helped engineers, early on, to incorporate new autonomous technology (borrowed from BMW) and carve up space to package a hybrid, plug-in hybrid and potentially a pure-electric powertrains.

Gesture control allowing back seat passengers to override entertainment and seating options is possible, as is route planning for potential autonomous driving systems in future.

But with all the technological advances expected from the new platform, Rolls will doggedly adhere to its ‘hand-crafted’ ethos, offering traditional materials and exacting craftsmanship deserving of price tags that start at $595,000 (Ghost) and rise to $1,019,000 (Phantom Drophead) in Australia.

Commenting on the end of the current Phantom, Rolls-Royce boss Torsten Muller-Otvos said: “I am proud and excited to announce that a new Phantom is on the way – a contemporary and beautiful Phantom enhanced with cutting-edge technologies and design innovations”.