There’s always a hushed silence after the owner of a Rolls Royce is pointed out. With the entry of their all-new hyper-luxury car Wraith, that silence is only going to get more pronounced. Unveiled in March this year, the monstrous yet sophisticated vehicle will be available to customers from next month onward. For people who can manage the Rs 4.6 crore (basic) price tag that the Wraith comes with, that is.
Herfried Hasenoehrl, General Manager for Emerging Markets – Asia, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, who was at a viewing of the car in the city on Wednesday, said that he was excited at the prospect of expanding their customer base through Tamil Nadu. “Our focus right now is to reach customers wherever they are and give them the cars that they would like to drive. That’s why we have opened 5 dealerships across India, making it the widest network in the Asia Pacific region,” he also said.
And yet Rolls Royce has dealerships in tier-II cities like Ahmedabad and Chandigarh (coming soon), Chennai hasn’t made the cut to have a dealership. “We are exploring all options and looking at setting up wherever we see a potential to sell our cars. Maybe we will see a wider network reach closer to you soon,” he said. At present, the closest place to test drive a Rolls Royce vehicle is at the KUN dealership at Hyderabad.
Reflecting on the much-delayed India edition of Rolls Royce, he said, “India is a large country with varying tastes and we need something that everyone will enjoy and identify with,” he said. This car could be rolled out by 2014, he speculated.