Rolls-Royce predicting big sales boost in second-quarter of 2011

April 27, 2011April 27, 2011 Omar Rana Rolls-Royce Ghost, Sedans

Rolls-Royce of North America’s president David Archibald says that the uber-luxury brand could more than double sales in the second-quarter of 2011, in large part because of the company’s new Ghost model.

The Rolls-Royce Ghost, which is priced lower than the Phantom at $246,500 in the U.S., helped Rolls-Royce hit a record in global sales of 2,711 in 2010. That’s up 167 over the previous year, Archibald said.

“One of the things that Ghost has brought is a more viable business case in more cities,” he said.

Click here for more news on the Rolls-Royce Ghost.

Archibald said that Rolls-Royce will add more dealers in China, increasing the number of showrooms to 11 by the end of 2011. China will end up having more Rolls-Royce dealers than any other country but the United States. The U.S. is still Rolls-Royce’s largest market. The company has plans to add four new U.S. dealerships in 2011.

Currently, the BMW-owned brand has 81 dealerships worldwide.

Refresher: The 2011 Rolls-Royce Ghost is powered by a 6.6L V12 twin-turbo making 563-hp and 575 lb-ft of torque. Mated to a 8-speed ZF automatic gearbox, 0-60 mph in the Ghost comes in 4.7 seconds with a top speed of 155 mph. Prices start at $245,000.