Rolls-Royce Car Sales Up 170 Percent In 2010

LONDON — The rich got rolling last year, pushing Rolls-Royce Motor Cars to its highest sales figures since BMW took over the company seven years ago.

The luxury automaker said Monday that it sold 2,711 cars in 2010, up 171 percent over the previous year.

The United States remained the No. 1 market for the cars, which sell for 200,000 pounds ($310,000) or more. But the Asia-Pacific was the best regional market as Rolls-Royce reported strong sales gains in China, Japan and South Korea.

China ranked as the company's second-largest market, followed by Britain, the United Arab Emirates and Japan.

The 2010 sales were still short of the company's all-time record of 3,357 cars in 1978, said Rolls-Royce spokesman Andrew Ball.

Figures released last week by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders showed that other luxury brands registered strong sales in the United Kingdom.

Bentley, owned by Volkswagen, sold 993 cars in the U.K., up 30 percent from a year earlier. Porsche, another VW brand, sold 28.5 percent more cars for the year, to a total of 6,784, and Lotus sales were up 19 percent to 577. Aston-Martin, however, was down nearly 9 percent to 1,080.

The society did not report U.K. sales for Rolls-Royce which, at its request, is included in the "other British" category which totaled 1,049 units, up 16 percent. Rolls-Royce does not publish regional sales figures, Ball said.

Comments

[calltoaction]

02:53 PM on 01/11/2011

only the middle class suffers a recession. the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor.

[banker67]

02:39 PM on 01/11/2011

What better way to spend all that mortgage money squeezed from the dying American middle class?
It's a simple statement: Crime pays!

[Imhotep40]

12:31 PM on 01/11/2011

I wonder what the cost is to lease a Rolls? If they hold their value to such a degree, then the lease payment shouldn't be exorbitant . . . .

[blueken]

11:46 AM on 01/11/2011

So this is where tax breaks for the wealthy go. Interesting. How many jobs does it create in the United States?

[bigdaddyvike]

09:41 PM on 01/10/2011

The top 1%ers spending their tax savings from Uncle Sam, no doubt.

[Richcrafter]

08:57 PM on 01/10/2011

I like ours.

[jpaw]

06:57 PM on 01/10/2011

Yeah- rich people in finance made more than ever last year. Not surprised.

[otop016]

01:54 PM on 01/11/2011

Athletes are the main buyers now...

[AngusC]

05:02 PM on 01/10/2011

You can count my neighbor in as one of the buyers.
He got a new Ghost last summer.
Of course he is an NBA player so they are pretty much recession proof...until they go broke.

[lunacougar]

02:56 PM on 01/10/2011

Rolls-Royce are producing the ugliest cars ever, proof that wealth & taste are not conducive. However unlike other posters I think Bentleys are very pretty. Given the wealth/choice I'd have an Aston Martin.

[hellboundtrain]

12:50 PM on 01/10/2011

Now that is one ugly front end of a car pictured there;
kind of remindful of one of the cabs of a big rig pulling hogs to market.

[bart4u]

12:49 PM on 01/10/2011

See what happens when the rich get a tax break they spend money on an English car instead of keeping the money here.

[InfinteShibumi]

01:17 PM on 01/10/2011

I'd like to agree with you but unfortunately most non-rich Americans opted for foreign cars when they traded in their clunkers, too. Clearly, they were not focused on helping the U.S. economy...

[OC4Obama4Pres]

02:39 PM on 01/10/2011

Is it still foreign if the workers who made most of it reside here in America? Is it the name and ownership that makes it foreign? I'm pretty sure that RR is manufactured in England, but I could be wrong.

[BarryOB]

12:37 PM on 01/10/2011

YES! And the "little people" (including me) are paying for it. WE pay taxes so the wealthy don't have to. This car is gift from the Republicans to their wealthy constituents thanks to the extension ot the Bush era tax cuts.

[blueken]

11:49 AM on 01/11/2011

And, they are going to pay for that "gift" by raidng Social Security and Medicare. Happy New Year!

[New Yorker]

12:14 PM on 01/10/2011

" Tis easier for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven." Driving there in a Rolls will probably make a yours speedy trip to a much warmer climate though.

So lets Roll Back the Health Care we just provided for millions and let them fend for themselves and die, then lets Roll Back Social Security for our elderly citizens and let them Fend for Themselves, but then take Billions and give it in tax breaks to the Mega Rich so they can get another Rolls. This is what now passes for Government For the People. It's been amended, that is Government For The Really, Really RICH People.

[Greta42]

12:11 PM on 01/10/2011

What a relief to know that the plutocrats are able to lead their lives of excess without skipping a beat - The tax cuts are being spent, just not on American products.

[TexasDem0]

11:58 AM on 01/10/2011

What a comfor to know just how much the ultra-rich are enjoying their unnecessary tax break.