Hi Autospies;
I just thought you would like to hear about the result of a meeting we have just had within the company, which included our RR & Ferrari spies on conference calls.
I work for a large finance house in the UK that specialises in prestige cars amongst other things. The result of the meeting just held by us is that we will NOT be preparing finance packages for the new baby Rolls Royce – not because of the economic down turn, or the credit crunch, but because inside information from the Goodwood plant suggests that these cars will retail at some $350K-$375K!!!
A number of customers (100+) had expressed an interest in the car, expecting it to rival the Bentley Continental Flying Spur, some $250K – only to discover its true projected cost. My point is this; we all thought the Roller was being designed to meet the 4-door Bentley head-on for performance and price, only to discover that the RR is fighting another battle, that against the forthcoming baby Maybach, which will also be $350K!
To this end we are currently advising customers in the market for a $250K luxury saloon to look at a Bentley or AMG S-Class. I personally am not sure where Rolls Royce thinks their customer base is going to come from because when we ask our customers, we have had two very succinct answers, “I’ll pay the extra and buy a Phantom, then” or “Sod it, I’ll buy a Bentley”. I am sure the marketing people at Rolls Royce have looked in to this, but I find it very worrying indeed.
I’ll email the other part of this message if you are interested.