Rolls Royce launches a car for the ‘post-opulence era’

Luxury automaker Rolls-Royce has described recent creation as a car designed for the “post-opulent” world.

“In the middle of this coronavirus pandemic, and as the market continues to evolve, it has been the product that really started to show us a new phase of Rolls-Royce, focusing onto the post-opulence era,” Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Americas CEO Martin Fritsches said. “And obviously, we’ve been able to embed all of the technology features, but in a more subtle, and let’s say, ‘less opulent’ way.”

For the automaker, a delay in production for the new Ghost, ‘entry-level’ Rolls-Royce, wasn’t an option. After 2019, the momentum had to be maintained, and the luxury market wasn’t going to wait. Car sales, even at the top end, have been steadily climbing higher amid clear economic contraction and increasing unemployment rates.

“Our customer base not only is changing, it’s becoming more and more young,” Fritsches says. “They are absolutely very demanding.”

He says the new Ghost is a direct response to Rolls-Royce’s evolving high-end consumer. These younger clients are progressively going the bespoke route with customized requests “dramatically” increasing, he described.

With the Ghost being Rolls’ most well-known product, its success is paramount for the automaker’s North American aspirations.

“With our current product lineup and further encouraging the customization and the … personalized approach, our trend is to continue expanding our business here, particularly in the U.S., but also markets like Canada,” Fritsches said.

It was no secret that the outgoing Ghost required some update given it was last updated in 2014 and it needed to get back on par with the latest and greatest in terms of tech, comfort, and aesthetics.