After launching the company's first ever pre-owned car program, it appears as though Rolls-Royce is once again trying to make the marque more accessible to potential buyers. Rolls-Royce, which is now owned by BMW, will introduce a new model in 2010 that will be smaller and cheaper than the Phantom, hoping to double world-wide output to 1,600 cars.

According to Automotive News, Rolls-Royce's new model will be positioned between the BMW 7-series and the Rolls-Royce Phantom. While the platform and engine will be unique to Rolls-Royce, the new car is expect to be around the size of the long-wheelbase 7-series. Rolls-Royce is still deciding on what engine the new car will use but the 6.75 liter V12 seems likely. Prices for the "baby" Phantom are expected to start north of $260,000.

Rolls-Royce is also planning to bow the Phantom coupe in late 2008 or early 2009. The concept version, called the 101EX, made its debut at the 2006 Geneva auto show.

The first 30 Phantom Drophead Coupes are set to be delivered this month, with Rolls-Royce hoping to sell 150-200 of the $412,000 convertibles in the U.S.

Rolls-Royce's baby scooped

By Tim Pollard


08 January 2008 13:28


BMW has started testing its new baby Rolls-Royce – and our spies were on hand to capture the moment this mule took to the roads around Munich. Size is relative, of course; this might be the smallest Rolls for generations, but it will still dwarf the majority of cars on the road.

Nestling under the disguise of this long-wheelbase 7-series lie the innards of the baby Roller, codenamed New Generation Saloon. The smaller Rolls will slot beneath the Phantom uber-saloon in the range and officials talk of it as ‘a Silver Shadow for the 21st century’. Strip away the BM bodywork, and the baby Rolls will look like the car depicted in our artist’s impression above.


Classic four-door proportions


CAR Online understands the NGS has a classic four-door silhouette that stretches to five-and-a-half metres long. Even Rolls-Royce owners downsizing won’t put up with cramped cabin conditions after all. Will it have the suicide – sorry, coach – doors so beloved of £265,000 Phantom owners? Nobody is certain yet, but it seems likely if customers are to be lured out of their top-spec BMWs, Mercedes and Bentleys.

Analysis of our exclusive scoop shots reveals a platform whose track is noticeably wider than a 7-series’, and the raised ride height is another indicator of what lies beneath this BM body. Check out the size of the brake discs too – required to halt a couple of tonnes of luxury car. The unknown at this stage is the material used to build the NGS; the Phantom’s aluminium spaceframe could be deemed too expensive for the smaller, more affordable car.

Many of the next-gen 7-series’ underpinnings will be used on the secret new Rolls-Royce, and a BMW-derived V12 is likely to provide the propulsion. In the longer run, we’d expect the British luxury brand to dip into parent firm BMW’s hybrid technology; not that Rolls-Royce owners worry unduly about their fuel bills - but they do worry about what people say about them. Even the world’s most exclusive uber-brands will need to face up to their environmental responsibilities in the 21st century.


Inside the baby Rolls


The inside will be as luxurious as you’d expect of a Rolls-Royce; the company’s artisans employ know-how and materials from the world of yachts and bespoke furniture to craft the sumptuous cabin of the Phantom. We hear there will be a high level of pampering in the smaller Rolls, with quality wood, soft hide and opulent paint choices aplenty.

But the NGS is aimed at a younger buyer than the Phantom, so this cabin will be available with much high-tech gadgetry. Expect radar-based cruise control, auto-shutting doors and fibre optic headlining for that star-studded sky effect, and there will be a new generation of digital read-out screens that are immune from bright sunlight and problems with shadows.


Baby Rolls: the timeframe


Expect a concept car to hail from Rolls’ Goodwood HQ at some point later in 2008 or, more likely, in 2009. This year the company is busy concentrating on the new Phantom Coupe which launches at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show, and the smaller car won’t arrive in production form until late 2009.

Prices aren’t fixed yet, but the baby Rolls-Royce won’t wear a truly bargain price. It will be significantly cheaper than the quarter-million pound Phantom and its £307,000 Drophead Coupe convertible sibling – but we’re still talking about an entry price of some £175,000.

But when it does finally go on sale it should swell the production figures at Goodwood significantly, with BMW targeting around 2000 units a year. A second assembly line is being installed to cope with the upshift.

Ten years after BMW bought Britain’s most prestigious car company, it seems that Rolls-Royce is finally getting into its stride.

2008 Detroit Auto Show: Rolls-Royce Develops New Engine for RR4 Model Series

Date posted: 01-15-2008

DETROIT — Rolls-Royce Chairman and Chief Executive Ian Robertson said on Monday that the company's new model series, code-named RR4, will get a "brand-new" engine. Details were sketchy about the new engine, but Robertson characterized it as "a further substantial advance.

"To date I haven't been able to tell you much about the RR4, but I can announce today that we are developing a brand-new engine for this model series," he said. "Phantom is already the most efficient car in the superluxury segment, and the new engine will be a further substantial advance."

He said the RR4 "is due for launch in 2010." Robertson elaborated: "The engineering development is now well underway — in fact, I recently drove an early test car and can confirm that it is an outstanding product and, as importantly, an authentic Rolls-Royce."

Robertson's speech included the update that the new member of the Phantom family, a series version of the two-door four-seat experimental coupe, the 101EX, will be in customers' hands in the summer. He noted that the reaction to the Phantom Drophead Coupe, which launched in July, has been "outstanding." He said the company had sold more than 250 Phantom Drophead Coupes by the end of 2007. "Our order book is currently full through this year and well into 2009, with no signs of demand slowing," Robertson added.

Rolls-Royce also achieved a significant milestone in 2007, selling 1,010 vehicles. "This is a significant point in the history of our company," Robertson said, noting that it's "the first time our annual sales have reached four figures, and our fourth successive sales increase since the company was launched."

What this means to you: Rolls-Royce continues on a healthy track, but it's getting increasingly difficult to get your hands on popular models.