Wraith to top Rolls-Royce sales

ROLLS-ROYCE'S decision to produce a Ghost-sized coupe looks set to pay dividends, with the Wraith super-coupe likely to become the company's top-selling model in Australia.

A pre-production version of the $645,000 Wraith super-coupe arrived in Australia last month for customer launch events in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.

Rolls-Royce Asia Pacific general manager Dan Balmer would not elaborate on pre-order numbers for the Wraith, but said interest was strong in Australia and he expected the hyper-luxury coupe to have an impact on local sales.

“We are very happy with the performance, we are not going to reveal a number,” he said. “The (Sydney) launch was one of our biggest, if not the biggest, in terms of attendance in the region so far,” he said.

Mr Balmer said the 465kW/800Nm V12-engined Wraith was opening the iconic British marque up to an audience it had previously not managed to capture.

“The main thing is to get an idea that Rolls-Royce has an offering in its line-up that is different to the traditional set of Rolls-Royce, and that’s where we are at right now,” he said.

“We are getting a lot of sportscar owners approaching us for the first time. If we look at the order bank so far, we have got a lot of new names in there.”

For the lucky few Australian punters who have put down a deposit for a Wraith in the past few weeks, Mr Balmer said the expected delivery time would be “about the first half of next year”.

Australia's obsession with performance vehicles could result in Australia becoming one of the Asia Pacific region's biggest markets for Wraith.

“We were looking just two years ago at the figures and probably a propensity for a driver-led coupe is a greater selling point in Australia,” Mr Balmer said.

“Across the region that we look after that includes Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and other more mature markets, we would probably see Australia as the third or fourth largest Wraith market on sheer volume alone. And that will lead it to be a better seller than Ghost,” he said.

While Mr Balmer said Rolls-Royce did not deliberately set out to attract younger buyers with the Wraith, he said it was likely that the sleek fastback would draw a more youthful crowd to the brand.

“It isn't necessarily a targeted younger audience thing, but I think it will attract young people for sure. We don't have a traditional demographic, it doesn't really exist with our Rolls-Royce range.

“We have clients in their 80s who say that a Phantom is too old for them and they would rather have a Ghost. They have different personalities,” he said.

The Wraith adds to Rolls-Royce's existing line-up that includes the car on which it is based, the four-door Ghost saloon from $645,000, and the Series II Phantom range that kicks off from $855,000.