New smaller Ghost to double Rolls Royce's sales

Despite a global downturn in auto sales in general, Rolls-Royce is working at full steam just to meet demand. But with a second, higher volume model on its way the carmaker will be forced to increased production and take on more staff. Rolls-Royce has already added more shifts and lengthened working hours, but still production can barely keep up. And now it looks like demand for the new Ghost, recently captured undisguised by our spy photographers, will be high enough to double sales outright.

In preparation for its upcoming Ghost sedan, Rolls-Royce has previously announced plans to increase its manufacturing workforce by 50% to meet the huge demand. Over 10,000 people have expressed interest in the new Ghost, while about 1,500 of those have made serious proposals to purchase, reports Reuters. That's enough to effectively double the company's sales volume in a single stroke.

More than 150 new jobs will be created to support the Ghost, which is scheduled to start production at the end of this year for an early 2010 sales release. By the end of 2009 Rolls-Royce will have created almost 400 new jobs in under two years, bringing the total number of employees based at Goodwood in the UK to 900.

The Ghost will be built on its own dedicated assembly line but will share paint, wood and leather workshops with the Phantom series of cars. Therefore, the majority of the new positions have been created in the wood, leather and paint shops as well as the assembly areas.

Even more amazingly, given the state of the rest of the industry, sales are expected to continue growing - even beyond the Ghost's infusion. For the year through April, Rolls-Royce sales were up 20% and with the new model due over the course of the next financial year the luxury carmaker from Goodwood is set to have its best year on record, even with sales of its current models beginning to level off.