That article does contain som bull shit. Not in a million years will the smaller rolls be priced so low.

Um, read closely.. "will cost one third LESS than the phantom", not "one third OF the phantom's price" .. meaning, take one third of the price away from the phantom and you have the seraph's price. Eg: around 200k.

Those prices are so cheap compared to what we pay for RR's here in Australia. A new Phantom will set you back a minimum of AU$1,000,000. Which at the moment is about US$830k.

That's right voriax

Hmmm, does anybody seriously believe Bentley has gone "down market"?

Although the Continental series is the most "affordable" Bentley ever, it is still one of the best cars in the world -- the quality is not compromised at all. I think people have become too fixated on how exclusive these cars are or are not (as compared to older Bentley models) ....surely it's the quality and the brand's integrity that really matter. Although I know some people do not like the looks of the Continentals at all, they are still a first class product worthy of the Bentley name.

i would venture far more than double sales
if the phantom itself, with all its inherent snobbism (for some) and its ultra high price is selling close to 700 units per year
adding into the mix the DHC and more importantly a silver seraph costing considerably less should see RR sales looming onto the 2K units horizon

Mind that when BMW had a plan to revive the glory of Rolls-Royce brand. They wanted to offer an ultra-luxury car to reestablish past reputation which was gone in 80s & 90s. So the decision to build a Phantom was made - although it was discussed to offer a Seraph successor first.

They could easily go with offering smaller & "cheaper" model first, but in that case RR image could be hurt. RR needed an image boost , and Phantom was a perfect car for such task.

So, Phantom is a "halo" model for RR - and it works. So now BMW have much easier task with additional more affordable RR models.

Mind that RR is positioned above Bentley - and that was also the task of Phantom: to breakaway from Bentley as far as possible.

Not only that - RR succeed to overrun Maybach as well. MB totally blew it ... they had a huge opportunity with Maybach (due RR troubles), but they totally blew it.

that's good to know, i thought they were too desperate.

The design of the CGT is attractive to say the least, heck I was even deeply in love with it when it was launched. Is it a Bentley? Yes it is but isn't as exquisite as the Phantom, Arnage, or even the Maybach S52. When you are standing beside any of those three cars you can feel their aura, there is something magical about them, like they are from a different planet.

There is no denying that just like Lamborghini Bentley has gone down market. The CGT is in the very crowded but lucrative 120-160k segment. Although the Arnage has been around since 1999 I do see more CGTs on the roads. Now days you can grab yourself a used one over here in California for 115k and if production keep steam like it does now it will only be a matter of time 1-2 years before we will see CGTs with 80k price tags on them. What I'm trying to say is that the CGT isn't as exclusive as it should be. Ferrari has always been "down market" with their 360 and their 150k F430 but thanks to the limited production their cars are very exclusive and in countries where the appetite for luxury goods is big you can sell a used F430 for over MRSP. That's how it should be very every car coming from an elite brand, regardless of how much the car cost.

You might think I'm obsessed with exclusivity and when it comes to expensive car I am. Exclusivity is one of the reasons for buying a high-end car. Not only does it make you feel good, give the car an edge but it keeps the resale value of the car high.

OK. So Hassan, do you think the Continental has devalued the whole image of Bentley?

Some new info from Rolls-Royce boss Ian Robertson:

During an interview at last weeks Shanghai motor show, Robertson stated that “The design is finished, and the first prototypes should be running very shortly.”

“It will cost roughly two thirds as much as a Phantom, or somewhere between £150,000 and £175,000.” He added “we’ll aim to produce around 800 of them a year. That should more than double our overall sales.”

The baby Roller is expected to share parts with the next generation BMW 7-Series and CS Concept, but Robertson insisted that the car “will be unmistakably a Rolls-Royce.”

The new model is expected to hit the motor shows in 2009 before going on sale in early 2010.

What I'm trying to say is, Rolls is finally taking advantage of the lower-end of the ultra-luxurious market that it was missing from for quite a while, having only the Phantom as its only model for quite some time.

Thanks for clarifying that Rob - I always thought that the Arnage was priced similarly to the Phantom - I guess I misjudged that. So this new RR isn't going to be a FS competitor, price-wise.

Though I'd still think they will draw undeniable comparisons.