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Published on July 10th, 2011 | by Jo Borrás

15

What Economic Downturn? Rolls-Royce Sales Up 64%

Gas 2.0 is about a lot of things.  Alternative fuels, electric vehicles, and – yes – the relevant politics and policies involved.  Gas 2.0 is about cars, too, and the state of the automotive industry is something that directly impacts every attempt to move away from fossil fuels.

So, what is the state of the automotive industry?

The answer to that question depends on who you ask, it seems, and if you ask the people selling $400,000 (plus!) Rolls-Royce luxo-barges, the car business is booming – with Rolls’ sales up a massive 64% over last year (itself a banner year for the brand).

Torsten Muller-Otvos, CEO of Rolls, offers that “This is an excellent half-year result and demonstrates the confidence that our customers have in our company and our products. The first six months of the year have also seen Rolls-Royce celebrate our unique heritage, … and demonstrate our innovation, with the Phantom Experimental Electric, 102EX. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars continues to operate as the world’s foremost ultra luxury car manufacturer.”

Muller-Otvos’ comments would seem to indicate that Rolls is still keen to push their electric car plans forward, but what I find interesting here that high-dollar niche car-makers like Rolls, Ferrari, and Bugatti are thriving in what is, by many accounts, supposed to be a generally weak economy.  Is this a simple case of “the rich get richer” or are more complex forces at work here?

You’re a well-read and well-educated lot, what do you think?  Let us know!

Source:  AutoEvolution.



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About the Author

I've been involved in motorsports and tuning since 1997, and write for a number of blogs in the Important Media network. You can find me on Twitter, Skype (jo.borras) or Google+.


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  • http://Ifyagotit,flauntit! Jcmarching

    The money has not gone away. It has just skittered away from the middle class to the one percenters or as Fox News calls “job creators” (for RR employees)

    • http://gas2.org Jo Borras

      Well, it *is* a job-creator … assuming your job is to build Rolls-Royce automobiles!

  • http://www.musconetcong.org Bill Leavens

    As to Rolls sales, I am flabbergasted that a vehicle so plug ugly could possibly attract any interest at all. Bentleys, in contract, are very pretty. The Rolls Royces fairly bark down the street. Pontiac Aztecs have nicer lines. What are all those rich folk thinking??

    Yes, the rich are getting richer. The playing field established by Congress over the last decade certainly shows that. This current ‘new normal’ is something straight out of H. L. Mencken. (“Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under.”)

    • http://gas2.org Jo Borras

      “Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under.” I like that!

  • http://Web johnny_balls

    It’s quite obvious it has only been a economic downturn for the bottom 98%.

  • http://Web DaveD

    It is clearly a matter of the rich getting richer. One of the best examples is the “L Curve” which is this great visual for explaining it so people can get their head around just how absurd it is:

    http://www.lcurve.org/

    Firs, hit the zoom in button twice…and then hit the zoom out button about 5 times. You’ll get the picture :-)

    • http://www.facebook.com/ Prue

      What I find so itneesritng is you could never find this anywhere else.

  • http://justgoodbiz.wordpress.com Brian

    One of the good things about Rolls Royce past philosphy has been to make motor cars that are built to last and be repairable. In fact I think that about 75% of all Rolls Royce cars made since their inception are still on the road. Having vehicle logengivity ia a good thing given the amount of embodied energy built into every cars production process.
    PS If you need to shorten the name of what the firm calls a ‘Roll Royce Motor Car’ the approved term is not a ‘Rolls’ or ‘Roller’ but a ‘Royce’, seeing Royce was the engineer who designed and built the car, Rolls was just the arisocratic sales & promo man.

    • http://gas2.org Jo Borras

      In all my years surrounded by exotic metal, working on Porsches, Ferraris, Mercedes, Moslers, etc., I have never heard anyone refer to a Rolls-Royce automobile as a “Royce” … which is all well and good, since Rolls-Royce (as a company) owes quite a bit more to Walter O. than it ever did to Henry.

      • http://www.facebook.com/ Liberty

        I love reading these articles because they’re short but ifnroatmive.

  • http://Web Brian

    PS
    Going electric is nothing new for Henry Royce, the engineer behind Rolls Royce. Before he got sick of the bad quality and lack of reliability of the cars of 100 years ago and so made his own, he designed & made – guess what…electric motors, generators & cranes.

    • http://gas2.org Jo Borras

      Maybe so, but Rollers that everyone knows (the Silver Ghost, the Clouds, etc.) drank dino-juice, and whether the Rolls faithful would accept an electric car is still up for debate.

      To be fair, however, the Rolls faithful shouldn’t begin to consider the BMW Rollers as “real” Rolls, anyway. As one member of the board famously said at the time of the buyout: “What the Germans could not accomplish with their bombs, they finally accomplished with their pocketbook.”

  • http://Web Michelle

    There are so many mixed responses on EV’s, so it can be confusing for the consumer. I like that Rolls-Royce is at least addressing the change in perspective. I looked up some electric vehicle updates and the technology is growing so fast that it’s impossible to tell what EV trends will look like 12 months from today.

  • http://www.kompulsa.com/wp/ Kompulsa

    It is because the ultra-rich have gotten richer, and only the rich buy Rolls-Royce’s.

  • Pingback: What Economic Downturn? Bentley is Building an SUV – Gas 2.0()

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