Rolls-Royce has just revealed its sales figures for 2011 - and it's been a record-breaking year for the Flying Lady.
There might be impending financial meltdown everywhere at the moment, but plutocrats and celebrities seem as immune as ever, and Rolls-Royce is clearly benefitting, having just posted its strongest year of sales figures ever.
The Goodwood-based manufacturer delivered 3,538 cars in 2011, a chunky 31 per cent more than 2010's figure of 2,711 and the highest figure in the manufacturer's 107-year history.
'78 and Silver Shadow was RR's last peak
The figure bests Rolls-Royce's previous record of 3,347 cars having been set in 1978 during the Silver Shadow II era.
Both the new Ghost and the almost decade-old Phantom ranges enjoyed sales growth, though Rolls admits that the newer, cheaper, Ghost range accounted for the lion's share of the sales increase.
China and the United States were the most significant individual markets for Rolls-Royce, though the UK performed well, reporting 30 per cent growth. In Continental Europe, Germany and Russia were the largest growth markets, each more than doubling sales compared with 2010.
"We had an outstanding year in 2011 and we should take a moment to reflect on this Great British success story," said Torsten Muller-Otvos, Rolls CEO. "Our business is in excellent shape. We are developing our dealer network, moving into new markets like South America, expanding our manufacturing operation in West Sussex to meet global demand and have plans to develop our product range."