January 12th, 2011

2011 Rolls Royce Ghost

Rolls Royce is certainly on a roll this year. In this time of economic crisis, it’s a bit surprising to see the increase in sales for the maker of cars that cost $250,000 (Ghost) and $370,000 (Phantom). But they haven’t just risen, they’ve skyrocketed, and in just about every market.

According to BBC, in 2010 US sales were up 220%, UK sales were up 150%, and the Middle East rose 160%. The biggest growth market for RR will surprise no one—China. Sales in China last year grew an unbelievable 800%!

But what might surprise auto industry insiders the most (though it doesn’t surprise us at all) is the growth of female buyers. 10% of the Ghosts were bought by women.

According to Rolls Royce CEO Torsten Mueller-Oetvoe, women are attracted to the “masculinity” of the car. Mueller-Oetvoe says: “Women love their Ghosts. But Rolls-Royce is a male brand. And women like that. It’s a nice masculine car. It’s a statement. It’s all about powerplay.” While women are attracted to the Ghost they seem to not have the same love for the Phantom. It seems to make sense to us given the larger size of the Phantom.

The auto industry has tended to only market certain types of cars (see minivans and electric cars) to women. But this clearly shows what we’ve been saying for a while now: women like luxury, women like quality, women like power (horsepower and otherwise). With the economy as it is and every brand fighting for new audiences we hope that car companies will start to realize that the untapped wild west is women and we are waiting for you to speak to us.