Photo: Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce is a brand that knows how to respect its clients, and this has put the British company in a tricky position lately.
As you already know, the current generation of the Phantom will have its production halted at the end of this year. The factory in Goodwood would then go through a small break in Phantom manufacturing for customers, until the 2018 Phantom is ready for launch.
The tricky part for Rolls-Royce at the moment is that the company has already announced it will stop the production line of the ongoing Phantom on 31 December 2016, but customers reportedly still demand this model. As with any business, some clients might be more persistent than others, which makes saying "no" even more challenging.
While mainstream automakers only say that the production of a particular model has ended, luxury automakers tend to be more flexible on this matter.
Ferrari, for example, limits the manufacturing quota of specific models to one less than they are sure they could sell. The Italian automaker also restricts sales to a maximum number each year, to maintain its exclusivity.
Rolls-Royce is an exotic automaker without any doubt, but it tends to be less willing to go out of its way to restrict clients to acquire certain models.
Excepting one-off cars and other limited series, the British brand may be interested in selling a few more Phantom units. While nothing has been changed on an official level, the interest for the Phantom seems to have grown as it is slowly becoming unavailable.
The same phenomenon happened with the Land Rover Defender, another British icon. At the time, Land Rover launched a farewell edition of the car, but it turned out to be a massive sales success. The Solihull factory was packed with orders, which came as a surprise after years of dwindling sales.
The situation might be repeated with the Phantom, but on an entirely different price level. Nothing is official regarding this rumor, so do not get your hopes up of getting a Phantom at the last minute.
UPDATE October 24, 2016: Rolls-Royce representatives have contacted us regarding this story. The brand's head of Global Product Communications, Andrew Boyle, explained that Rolls-Royce will stick to the production schedule that was previously announced. Therefore, no supplementary units of the ongoing Phantom will be made after the last day of this year.
The tricky part for Rolls-Royce at the moment is that the company has already announced it will stop the production line of the ongoing Phantom on 31 December 2016, but customers reportedly still demand this model. As with any business, some clients might be more persistent than others, which makes saying "no" even more challenging.
While mainstream automakers only say that the production of a particular model has ended, luxury automakers tend to be more flexible on this matter.
Ferrari, for example, limits the manufacturing quota of specific models to one less than they are sure they could sell. The Italian automaker also restricts sales to a maximum number each year, to maintain its exclusivity.
Rolls-Royce is an exotic automaker without any doubt, but it tends to be less willing to go out of its way to restrict clients to acquire certain models.
Excepting one-off cars and other limited series, the British brand may be interested in selling a few more Phantom units. While nothing has been changed on an official level, the interest for the Phantom seems to have grown as it is slowly becoming unavailable.
The same phenomenon happened with the Land Rover Defender, another British icon. At the time, Land Rover launched a farewell edition of the car, but it turned out to be a massive sales success. The Solihull factory was packed with orders, which came as a surprise after years of dwindling sales.
The situation might be repeated with the Phantom, but on an entirely different price level. Nothing is official regarding this rumor, so do not get your hopes up of getting a Phantom at the last minute.
UPDATE October 24, 2016: Rolls-Royce representatives have contacted us regarding this story. The brand's head of Global Product Communications, Andrew Boyle, explained that Rolls-Royce will stick to the production schedule that was previously announced. Therefore, no supplementary units of the ongoing Phantom will be made after the last day of this year.
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