Posted on Friday 8 August 2008
Update: Following a long tradition of Geneva Motor Show debuts, the latest report indicates Rolls Royce will reveal its new ‘baby’ limousine, code-named RR4, at the Swiss show next year. Based on the same essential platform as the BMW 7-series, the car will nevertheless be sufficiently unique that no parts-bin sharing will be obvious to the occupants or observers.
To distinguish the car from the Phantom and the 7-series, it will be priced about 30% below the current range-topping Rolls Royce, and therefore significantly above the most prestigious BMW, starting at a minimum of $300,000, with typical pricing between $320,000 and $350,000, according to Car. The engine is tipped as a 6.0L V12, rather smaller than the 6.75L mill in the Phantom, and perhaps appropriately so.
Rumors of diesel and hybrid variants are brewing, but there has been little or no evidence to support the idea, though parent company BMW does have a good deal of experience in both fields. Sales of the car are expected to kick off in 2010, and the impact on Rolls Royce total volume will be impressive, effectively doubling sales almost overnight.
Original: We’ve brought you spy shots and Rolls Royce has released official sketches of the smaller RR4 sedan, but the car is still at least a year and a half away from its 2010 debut. That’s not stopping company officials from speculating on sales figures or talking details, however. Ian Robertson thinks the new car will more than double Rolls Royce’s annual volume to 2,500 cars per year.
With about 1,000 cars sold in 2007, that would require 1,500 RR4 - or Silver Ghost, as some rumors indicate it will be named - sedans to be sold each year, according to AutoTelegraaf. The target would drastically increase Rolls Royce’s revenue, but it would also place a massive burden on the company’s production line.
A bespoke 12-cylinder, smaller than the Phantom’s 6.75L engine is planned. Petrol fuel will be the only choice early on in the model’s life cycle, but Robertson hinted that diesel could become an option once the new car has been on the market for a while. Coupe and convertible body styles are on the drawing board, but at this point they exist only as design studies. There are also reports the car could share BMW’s new 400hp (298kW) 4.4L V8, however Robertson has stated in the past that the RR4’s engines will be unique to Rolls Royce.
The Goodwood facility where the company’s cars are built is being completely refitted to make room for the RR4’s production, and the ramp-up to 1,500 units will take a couple years. The company expects to produce 800 RR4s in the car’s first year. Production is expected to begin late in 2009 with the first models going for sale early in 2010 at a street price between $250,000 and $300,000.
Rolls Royce RR4 official sketches
If you want a smaller and sportier Rolls, buy the Phantom Coupe. Why aren’t they charging less for the RR4 to give buyers a reason to buy it?
I’d like to hear more about BMW’s “experience” in hybrid tech when they are only developing it for the X6 and the X5