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Share this on:FacebookTwitterDiggdeliciousredditMySpaceStumbleUponLinkedInViadeo 'Affordable' Rolls-Royce powers record sales figuresBy Peter Wilkinson, CNNJanuary 9, 2012 -- Updated 1801 GMT (0201 HKT)if (typeof cnnArticleGallery == "undefined") {var cnnArticleGallery = {};if(typeof cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList =="undefined"){cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList = [];}}var expGalleryPT00 = new ArticleExpandableGallery();expGalleryPT00.setImageCount(15);cnn_adbptrackpgalimg("Rolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to Phantom", 1);.cnn_html_slideshow_metadata > .cnn_html_media_utility::before {padding-right: 1px;content: '>>';font-size: 9px;line-height: 12px;color: red;}.cnnstrylccimg640 {margin: 0 27px 14px 0; /*note the exclusion of the top margin*/}.captionText {filter: alpha(opacity=100);opacity: 1;}.cnn_html_slideshow_media_caption a, .cnn_html_slideshow_media_caption a:visited, .cnn_html_slideshow_media_caption a:link, .captionText a, .captionText a:visited, .captiontext a:link {color: #004276;outline: medium none;}.cnnVerticalGalleryPhoto{margin: 0 auto; padding-right: 68px; width: 270px;}
Charles Stewart Rolls, who co-founded the company with Henry Royce in 1904, sits in the back seat of a 20-horsepower Rolls Royce, during the 1905 TT (Tourist Trophy) race. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":true,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":1,"title":"Rolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to Phantom"}The Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost achieved a world record in 1907 by driving 14,371 miles without an involuntary stop, establishing the car's reputation for reliability.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":2,"title":"Rolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to Phantom"}Rolls-Royce cars were valued for their reliability despite their high price. Here cameramen film from a Rolls-Royce in Piccadilly, London, in April 1929.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":3,"title":"Rolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to Phantom"}The ultimate in glamor: U.S. acting couple Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Mary Pickford stand beside their chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce in London in 1931.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":4,"title":"Rolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to Phantom"}Rolls-Royce craftsmen show their attention to detail as a Silver Dawn rolls down the assembly line at Crewe in 1950.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":5,"title":"Rolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to Phantom"}Half a century and half a million miles on and the Silver Ghost is still going strong. Here the company shows their famous car off in 1963.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":6,"title":"Rolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to Phantom"}The Beatles sweep into Buckingham Palace in October 1965 as the Fab Four arrive to receive their MBE awards from Queen Elizabeth.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":7,"title":"Rolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to Phantom"}Two years on and psychedelia has taken hold. Here a crowd gathers to watch as John Lennon's Phantom V leaves the coachbuilders after its paint job. Rolls-Royce was reported to have disapproved of the color scheme.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":8,"title":"Rolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to Phantom"}No better way to arrive: Actor, singer, dancer, Sammy Davis Jnr takes delivery of a black Rolls-Royce convertible at London Airport in 1969.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":9,"title":"Rolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to Phantom"}The Silver Shadow answered concerns that Rolls-Royce cars were too old-fashioned. The model was the first Rolls-Royce with a monocoque chassis and was made between 1965 and 1980.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":10,"title":"Rolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to Phantom"}China is now one of Rolls-Royce's biggest markets. Here a Phantom is parked outside a luxury goods store on Shanghai's Bund in 2006.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":11,"title":"Rolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to Phantom"}Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan, left, and director Vidhu Vinod Chopra pose with a Rolls-Royce Phantom in Mumbai in February 2007.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":12,"title":"Rolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to Phantom"}Rolls-Royces continue to be hand-built. A shot of the interior of a Ghost model shows what £200,000 buys you.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":13,"title":"Rolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to Phantom"}Catherine Middleton and her father Michael Middleton travel in a Phantom VI to Westminster Abbey for her wedding to Prince William on April 29, 2011 in London.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":14,"title":"Rolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to Phantom"}Prices for the Rolls-Royce Ghost start at £200,000 but that can double when special options are added. Industry expert Paul Nieuwenhuis says it is an exceptionally fine car.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":15,"title":"rolls-royce ghost 2"}HIDE CAPTIONRolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to PhantomRolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to PhantomRolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to PhantomRolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to PhantomRolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to PhantomRolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to PhantomRolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to PhantomRolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to PhantomRolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to PhantomRolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to PhantomRolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to PhantomRolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to PhantomRolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to PhantomRolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to Phantomrolls-royce ghost 2<<<
The Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost achieved a world record in 1907 by driving 14,371 miles without an involuntary stop, establishing the car's reputation for reliability.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":2,"title":"Rolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to Phantom"}
Rolls-Royce cars were valued for their reliability despite their high price. Here cameramen film from a Rolls-Royce in Piccadilly, London, in April 1929.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":3,"title":"Rolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to Phantom"}
The ultimate in glamor: U.S. acting couple Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Mary Pickford stand beside their chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce in London in 1931.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":4,"title":"Rolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to Phantom"}
Rolls-Royce craftsmen show their attention to detail as a Silver Dawn rolls down the assembly line at Crewe in 1950.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":5,"title":"Rolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to Phantom"}
Half a century and half a million miles on and the Silver Ghost is still going strong. Here the company shows their famous car off in 1963.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":6,"title":"Rolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to Phantom"}
The Beatles sweep into Buckingham Palace in October 1965 as the Fab Four arrive to receive their MBE awards from Queen Elizabeth.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":7,"title":"Rolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to Phantom"}
Two years on and psychedelia has taken hold. Here a crowd gathers to watch as John Lennon's Phantom V leaves the coachbuilders after its paint job. Rolls-Royce was reported to have disapproved of the color scheme.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":8,"title":"Rolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to Phantom"}
No better way to arrive: Actor, singer, dancer, Sammy Davis Jnr takes delivery of a black Rolls-Royce convertible at London Airport in 1969.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":9,"title":"Rolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to Phantom"}
The Silver Shadow answered concerns that Rolls-Royce cars were too old-fashioned. The model was the first Rolls-Royce with a monocoque chassis and was made between 1965 and 1980.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":10,"title":"Rolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to Phantom"}
China is now one of Rolls-Royce's biggest markets. Here a Phantom is parked outside a luxury goods store on Shanghai's Bund in 2006.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":11,"title":"Rolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to Phantom"}
Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan, left, and director Vidhu Vinod Chopra pose with a Rolls-Royce Phantom in Mumbai in February 2007.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":12,"title":"Rolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to Phantom"}
Rolls-Royces continue to be hand-built. A shot of the interior of a Ghost model shows what £200,000 buys you.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":13,"title":"Rolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to Phantom"}
Catherine Middleton and her father Michael Middleton travel in a Phantom VI to Westminster Abbey for her wedding to Prince William on April 29, 2011 in London.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":14,"title":"Rolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to Phantom"}
Prices for the Rolls-Royce Ghost start at £200,000 but that can double when special options are added. Industry expert Paul Nieuwenhuis says it is an exceptionally fine car.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":15,"title":"rolls-royce ghost 2"}HIDE CAPTIONRolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to PhantomRolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to PhantomRolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to PhantomRolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to PhantomRolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to PhantomRolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to PhantomRolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to PhantomRolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to PhantomRolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to PhantomRolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to PhantomRolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to PhantomRolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to PhantomRolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to PhantomRolls-Royce: From Silver Ghost to Phantomrolls-royce ghost 2<<<
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15>>>STORY HIGHLIGHTSRolls-Royce posts best results in 107-year-history with 3,538 cars sold in 2011Bentley posts 37% rise in global sales, on back of rising sales to China and U.SRise in output from UK car factories comes on back of rise in productivityU.S. car makers which are expected to report their first profits since 2004London (CNN) -- During the 1970s, Britain's car industry was the sick man of Europe: many models were poorly designed and built, politicians and the nationalized company management lacked strategic vision while workers were often on strike.
Four decades on, that perception has been turned on its head. Despite the closure of the last British-owned volume car maker, Rover, in 2005, the country is now building near-record numbers of vehicles while the proportion of cars exported is the highest ever.
Belying the moribund state of the global economy, sales of luxury models are now leading the charge. On Monday Rolls-Royce posted its best results in its 107-year-history with 3,538 cars -- which cost upwards of £200,000 ($308,000) -- sold in 2011, a 31% rise over the previous year's figure. This growth is powered by surging demand in Asia: China now joins the United States as the BMW-owned marque's most significant markets.
Look at images of historic Rolls-Royce
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Rolls-Royce posts record sales "We had an outstanding year in 2011 and we should take a moment to reflect on this Great British success story," said the company's CEO Torsten Muller-Otvos. Rolls-Royce spokesman Andrew Ball told CNN the company was profitable but declined to detail any figures.
The booming Rolls-Royce sales figures come days after its former sister company, Bentley, posted a 37% rise in global sales, also on the back of rising sales to China and the U.S. The Volkswagen-owned company, based in Crewe, in northern England, in 2011 sold more than 7,000 cars, the prices of which start at £133,000 ($208,000).
The rise in output comes on the back of a huge rise in productivity. In the 1970s, 545,000 people were employed in Britain's car factories, making 15 million cars during that decade. Between 2001 and 2011 there were only 133,000 workers in the industry, but they produced 16.1 million cars.
Toyota has recently created 1,500 jobs at its plant in Derbyshire in a £100 million investment while Jaguar Land Rover said it would double the size of its factory on Merseyside providing 1,000 new jobs.
The Ghost car is proving successful because it is a bit more affordable and less ostentatious than the Phantom.Motoring journalist Iain Reid
The success of British car makers is echoed by U.S. car makers which are expected to report their first profits since 2004. Most analysts are forecasting better industrywide sales in 2012 and beyond. They see sales rising from 12.8 million in 2011 to between 13.5 million to 14 million this year and close to 15 million by 2014 or 2015.
Detroit automakers are finally making profits
Rolls-Royce's sales figures are the best since 1978 when the company sold 3,347 cars, mainly of the Silver Shadow II model. The latest Rolls-Royce models share many components with BMW models, such as the 7-series, but cost more than twice as much.
Motoring journalist Iain Reid of What Car? magazine said part of the reason behind R-R's success lay in its product range. "If you make the right models people will buy them. The Ghost car is proving successful because it is a bit more affordable and less ostentatious than the Phantom."
The Rolls-Royce brand was doing well, he said, because it married British heritage with BMW's sales and marketing expertise. Reid added that companies such as Nissan, BMW Mini and Honda had good plants in the UK that were building desirable cars. "You can't go wrong with that mix," Reid told CNN.
Industry analyst Paul Nieuwenhuis said that while many customers bought luxury cars "by the meter" -- that is to say they care more about the image than the machine -- modern Rolls-Royce cars were exceptional vehicles. "They are surprisingly agile, and don't feel nearly as big as they actually are. And their attention to detail is unrivaled."
Nieuwenhuis, director of the Centre for Automotive Industry Research at Cardiff Business School, said Britain had a global reputation for building luxury cars. "This is something that we are doing well, despite our own car market doing badly." He added that the Rolls-Royce sales figures showed that "rich people still have money" especially in China.
The rights to use the Rolls-Royce name have been owned by BMW since 1998 when Vickers sold off Rolls-Royce Motors, which also made Bentley cars. Volkswagen paid £430 million for the existing factory in Crewe but did not secure the rights to use the Rolls-Royce name on their vehicles. This was bought from Rolls-Royce plc, which continues to make aero engines, for £40 million by BMW, which built a new plant in Goodwood, West Sussex, in southern England.
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