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Rolls-Royce SUV depends on fortunes of BMW X7

The on-again, off-again discussion regarding the rumored Rolls-Royce SUV seems to be back in the "maybe" camp now. In February, we heard that Rolls-Royce was considering adding an SUV, but then in April, another report said that these rumors had been shot down. Automobile is now saying that this ultra-luxury SUV could be determined by the success of the equally uncertain BMW X7 (on which the R-R SUV would be based), which we've heard little on since 2011.
Although the article is based solely on speculation, there are some interesting details about such a potential Rolls-Royce, including a plug-in hybrid drivetrain using a twin-turbo V8 (not a V12) and a chassis and body built in South Carolina with final assembly taking place in Goodwood - where all Rolls-Royce cars are built. We could also assume that a green light for a Rolls-Royce SUV would be based on the success of rival SUVs like the Bentley Falcon and Maserati Levante.

Rolls-Royce Wraith Luminary Collection gets celestial headliner

Rolls-Royce has announced a new bespoke collection for its Wraith 2-door luxury coupe that is highlighted, literally, by a headliner full of glittering shooting stars. It's called the Wraith Luminary Collection and its production will be limited to just 55 examples. The car is like its own planetarium on wheels, thanks to a starlight headliner concocted by the folks at the Rolls-Royce Bespoke Collective in Goodwood, West Sussex. It's a handwoven configuration of 1,340 fiber-optic lights mimicking the night sky — and even the occasional shooting star — and it takes 20 hours to configure. Rolls-Royce says eight shooting stars fire at random, mostly over the front seats. Open up the suicide doors and you'll see the celestial theme continued inside the cabin. Tudor oak wood veneer, sourced from forests in the Czech Republic and chosen for its depth of color and grain structure, is back-lit by 176 LED lights that permeates through intricate perforations in the veneer that form another starlight pattern at the touch of a button. "Linked to the controls of the starlight headliner, the cabin's veneer surrounds Wraith's occupants in an ambient glow of light," the luxury marque says. Outside, the Luminary Collection comes pained in Sunburst Grey with rich Saddlery Tan-colored lines hand painted along the bonnet and side body, a color scheme inspired by "the heady shade of the golden hour's sunrays" and referencing the interior leather color scheme. It's also echoed in the center of each wheel. Cockpit seats come trimmed in the same tan leather, while rear seats feature a contrasting Anthracite leather or an available Seashell color for the leather, matched by a two-tone steering wheel. The seats get contrasting piping and stitching tying the colors together. Also new is a hand-woven stainless steel fabric, a new technique for luxury goods borrowed from industrial uses, for the center console and door panniers. Each swath is made up of strands between 0.08 and 0.19 millimeters in diameter and takes three days to produce in a clean-room environment. Finally, the collection features stainless-steel tread plates engraved with the words, "Wraith Luminary Collection — One of Fifty-Five." Prices weren't announced, befitting the brand's aura of exclusivity, but the Wraith starts at a mere $320,000.

Rolls-Royce rings up best-ever sales year

The wheeled monolith above is the 2013 Rolls-Royce Phantom Extended Wheelbase - a rolling demonstration of the real definition of "More." For that reason we can use it as a symbol of the firm's sales, which have not only achieved 'more' for the past three years but have also broken company records. Adding to its record-setting years in 2010 and 2011, the Goodwood-based carmaker moved 3,575 units, an increase of 38 over the year before.
The US retook its crown as the greatest consumers of Rolls-Royces, snagging it back from China. Other market movers were the Middle East, where sales rose 26 percent, Mainland Europe - the same place where mass-market makers are drowning in woe and inventory - that rose by 21 percent, and the Asia Pacific region and its 18-percent rise. Rolls-Royce is probably making more money on its cars, too, with bespoke uptake reaching 95 percent on the 10-year-old Phantom line and 73 percent for the Ghost line.
With a just-refreshed lineup and one or perhaps two more models coming, the indicators for more upward sales movement are strong, even if we don't know how soon the new models will arrive. For 2012, the brand that sells more cars above $200,000 than any other proved the saying that storms can't affect you when you live above the clouds. The press release below has more to say about the record year.