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NEWS
Rolls-Royce sales spurt in Oz
Far from a shadow of its former self, the Rolls-Royce brand is building steam in the local marketRolls-Royce Australia finds itself in an unusual position. It's selling popular products – in relatively decent numbers.
Note the use of the word 'relatively' there. Over the past five or six years the best result for the prestige brand in Australia was 2010, when 25 units were sold throughout the country. Most years Rolls-Royce sells in numbers of 20 or less.
For the year to date in 2014 the brand has already sold 34 units, however, with two months of the year remaining.
The improved numbers are attributed to the Ghost, which has just been upgraded in Series II form, and the Wraith, which is expected to produce a convertible ('drophead') variant within 12 months.
"With Ghost Series II we've got a very strong model line-up... it's very relevant for today," Paul Harris, the prestige brand's regional director in the Asia/Pacific region told motoring.com.au last week. Careful how he chose his words, Harris did acknowledge Rolls-Royce is committed to another model joining the range, but Rolls is not set to follow rivals downmarket.
"You won't see a Rolls-Royce on every street corner... We will grow our sales this year – globally. We're pleased with that result, but we don't want to be out there in the mass market. We want to be very exclusive, a tiny, unique droplet in that wonderful ocean of motor cars.
"We would always like to have one more customer than we're able to make cars – and that's our philosophy."
The Wraith 'Drophead' variant should be a good fit for the range, although Rolls-Royce is not yet admitting its existence.
Wraith (pictured here at Goodwood) has been a strong addition to the local range. And according to Harris it is changing the brand's demographic around the world – and presumably in Australia too, although there's no data available for the local market.
"The Wraith has really driven a new dynamic for Rolls-Royce in general," Harris explained. It's "fantastically encouraging", he says to see people walk into local showrooms, drawn in by "the most powerful Rolls-Royce ever", with "that unique grand coupe style about it that Australians really love."
"The more the car is seen on the road, the more people understand what it's about..."
Harris doesn't see sales for Wraith slowing just yet. Unlike other brands, where pent-up demand is often satisfied within a few months, the slower rate of production and delivery at Rolls-Royce ensures that a wave of demand will not be sated prior to a new wave coming along – for a new variant, like the drophead model, for instance.
"We still have a very strong order bank for Wraith, so we expect sales momentum to maintain itself... to the end of this year and even into next year as well."
Research in larger markets suggests that the Wraith appeals to more female buyers, as well as younger customers. The drophead convertible Wraith seems like the sort of car for buyers acting out a Grace Kelly fantasy, driving down the Cote d'Azur. Harris did make the observation that in this country we're blessed with thousands of kilometres of coastal roads.
But he drew the line at any suggestion the Wraith exemplifies the Rolls-Royce brand image better than the current Phantom and Ghost, or that the Wraith would overshadow the sedan models in the longer term.
"Phantom is very much in the name and the ultimate luxury. Ghost is a slightly different interpretation of that, slightly more casual. And then for me, Wraith is really a nod back to the early sort of motoring pioneering era, where people enjoyed a drive for a drive's sake, rather than a journey."
Harris expects that while the Wraith is literally outselling the Phantom and Ghost combined – by a ratio of 2:1 – the Ghost will bounce back in Australia now that the Ghost Series II has arrived.
"I think Wraith is very suited to the Australian market... [but] of course we've still got our existing Ghost Series I clients – and they're obviously looking at changing their cars and upgrading them to Ghost Series II. We've obviously got that opportunity, and new people who've not considered the car before.
"Here we've got a car that's more driver-engaging than it has been before, more dynamic looking, so it will appeal to a different subset of people."
There doesn't seem to be much model-jumping in the Rolls-Royce range, although Harris is yet to attempt splitting out the demographic for Wraith, Phantom and Ghost buyers by type, which he describes as "very difficult to do..."
"I know the bookends... of the distribution demographic, but I don't even know what the average is, because when you're talking about relatively low statistical numbers, it doesn't really mean anything. Even when you look at the average age of a population it always ends up at 40 something.
"If you take the 18-year olds out, then average it out... it doesn't really tell us anything. All I know is the predominance of new owners – of Wraith – are of a different dynamic that we've not seen before... be that gender-different – a richer mix of ladies buying our product – or be it that they're slightly younger, more interested in driving our cars, and understand luxury vehicles, and what Wraith can do for them.
"So that's why we've seen those differences.
"Where Ghost Series II sits, it sort of bridges that gap now as well. The new, younger buyer we've had coming in for Wraith – and the existing Ghost Series I buyer – is that sort of middle ground. We're going to see quite an interesting settling-in period now as the demographic starts to blend in."
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Written byKen Gratton
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