Rolls-Royce car sales in MEA surge 29%

Rolls-Royce cars in the Middle East and Africa region recorded a significant jump in 2019 sales, surpassing the annual surge globally, to reinforce the region as one of the strongest global markets for the luxury automobile range.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Middle East and Africa announced on Tuesday an annual strong growth of 29 per cent compared to 2018, while globally the car maker posted a 25 per cent jump in car sales with a total of 5,152 cars being delivered to customers in over 50 countries around the world.
César Habib, regional director, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Middle East and Africa, said the strong results for the region were spurred by sales of Cullinan and Phantom.
"The Middle East continues to be one of the strongest global markets for highly Bespoke Rolls-Royces, due to customers' desires for unique and personalised motor cars," he said.
This year, Rolls-Royce, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the BMW Group, completed its Black Badge family with the addition of Cullinan Black Badge alongside Ghost, Dawn and Wraith variants. The MEA region is one of the best-performing globally for sales of Rolls-Royce Black Badge models, a reflection of the region's youthful and adventurous customers seeking a more individual, rebellious expression of the Rolls-Royce brand.
"The results are a testament to the quality of the Rolls-Royce product, the faith and passion showed in the brand by our customers, and the unwavering dedication of our dealers," said Habib.
Addressing a press briefing, Habib said he is cautiously optimistic about the region's sales outlook for 2020, thanks to the strong demand on the complete Rolls-Royce model range especially on Phantom and Cullinan in addition to the existing and expected orders for the newly launched Black Badge Cullinan. Collection and highly Bespoke models are also expected to remain in high demand.
"With strong demand on our complete model range reflected on a healthy order bank, we can look forward to 2020 with optimism if uncertainty don't dictate otherwise."
Torsten Müller-Ötvös, CEO, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, said with a sales surge of 25 per cent, the worldwide performance is of an altogether different magnitude to any previous year's sales success.
"While we celebrate these remarkable results we are conscious of our key promise to our customers, to keep our brand rare and exclusive. Worldwide demand last year for our Cullinan SUV has driven this success and is expected to stabilise in 2020. It is a ringing testament to the quality and integrity of our products, the faith and passion of our customers and, above all, the skill, dedication and determination of our exceptional team at the Home of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood and around the world and our dedicated global dealer network," said Müller-Ötvös.
In 2019, sales grew across all regions during the year, driven by strong customer demand for all Rolls-Royce models. The company reported significant sales growth in every one of its key global markets. North America retained top status (around a third of global sales) followed by China and Europe (including UK).
- issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com