Rolls Royce heads downmarket

Iconic firm to build cheap Roller

By PH Staff / Thursday, 5 October 2006 / Loading comments

RR Phantom to get a sibling

Rolls Royce is going downmarket.

It plans to launch a series of cheaper cars, also built at its Goodwood factory. We can expect to see the results within four years.

BMW boss Ian Robertson -- the Munich company now owns Rolls, of course -- said at the Paris motor show that he'd expect to sell the cars for around £135,000 to £150,000, well below the £250,000 price tag that its current sole model, the Phantom, commands.

We don't know what it'll look like, but it will be competing in what many supercar makers see as an awkward price bracket: not quite high enough to be seriously exclusive, but a tad too high for those who want a supercar but don't want to pay more than a house for it.

Robertson reckoned that the company wouldn't be competing head-to-head with Bentley -- even though that price range is sandwiched between Bentley's most popular model, the Continental GT at £117,000 and the Arnage at £160,000.

Could be interesting to watch, as it's the first time that the two marques have been in serious competition since the near-bankrupt Bentley was bought by Rolls in 1931.