One of the world's premier luxury car manufacturers, Rolls-Royce has decided to strengthen its operations in India, owing to the rapid growth of the Indian automobile industry. The British car maker has its presence in India for the past 75 years. When it entered the domestic market, back in 1932, the company primarily built aero engines that were first used in Tata Airlines.
Recently, Rolls-Royce Operations India Private Limited was established in Bangalore, amid celebrations of its 50-year-long partnership with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in 2006. Since its establishment, Rolls-Royce has been inclined towards introducing its luxury cars in India. Rolls-Royce has now decided to expand its operations as well as its product range in India. Currently, the car maker has two dealerships located in Mumbai and Delhi. The company aims to achieve the desired level of expansion by the end of 2011 or early 2012.
For expanding the dealership network, the company has appointed Herfried Hasenoehrl as the Head of Business Development for Rolls-Royce India. He is expected to give new highs to the Rolls-Royce dealership network in the country. In addition, he will be responsible for identifying potential cities for sales of Rolls-Royce products.
Commenting on the new plans, Marketing and Events Manager, Rolls-Royce Asia-Pacific, Dan Balmer said, “Currently, we are in the process of identifying the dealers. We are looking for dealers who have high local connections.” He further added that various cities having the potential of achieving optimum success for the company through dealer network may include Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad.
It is important to note that the British car maker has successfully launched two high-end luxury cars namely Rolls-Royce Ghost and Rolls-Royce Phantom in India. The luxury car maker reportedly sold a total number of 70 cars in 2010. The recent reports further suggested that the company has even mulled upon expanding its product division in the coming time. The company has revealed plans of launching the extended wheelbase model of Rolls-Royce Ghost in India, which would cost around Rs. 3.05 Crore.
Corporate Communication Manager at Rolls-Royce, Asia-Pacific division, Hal Serudin said, “With new dealers and new product, the potential market for Rolls Royce is around 100 units this year.”
Rolls-Royce has also confirmed on increasing the capacity size at the Goodwood plant situated in southern England. The company is planning to increase its current capacity size by 2500 sq. m. The company will invest 10 million pounds in its Bespoke division, where the personalised cars are manufactured. This step has been taken due to the increase in demand of vehicles that are equipped with the Bespoke element.
Considering the increasing demand for its cars with Bespoke element, the company has decided to invest 10 million pounds in the Bespoke segments that manufacturer personalised cars.
Hal Serudin also mentioned that, “Out of 10 cars sold in India, about 60-70% have some Bespoke element.” He also stated that the company's plans to expand operations can be attributed to the growing demand in Asia-Pacific countries including India, China, Korea and Singapore. Rolls-Royce has sold about 1,592 units this fiscal year, out of which the sales of the Asia-Pacific countries has increased by 150%.
