World's Largest BMW Showroom Opens in Abu Dhabi, Best Selling Model in the M.E. is the 7-Series

Abu Dhabi, home of all things extravagant such as the largest indoor and first Ferrari theme park, can now lay claim to having the world’s largest showroom for BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and BMW motorcycles.

BMW Group’s long-standing importer for the region, Abu Dhabi Motors, invested some AED 300 million (roughly €62 million or US$81 million) in the new 35,000-square-metre showroom over its three-year construction.

The facility features separate showrooms and sales areas for the BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce cars, and for BMW motorcycles, with more than 70 automobiles and 10 motorcycles on permanent display.

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Spied: Rolls-Royce Takes Phantom Coupé Facelift Out for Winter Testing

Further proof that Rolls-Royce is getting ready to revamp its entire Phantom lineup comes from our scoopsters in Europe who captured a very lightly camouflaged prototype of the Coupé model undergoing winter testing.

This will be the first facelift for the Phantom Coupé that was presented five years after the sedan version of Rolls-Royce's flagship line in 2008.

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$1.4 Million Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe gets Soaked in Australia

We don't know what's more annoying about this video that shows a Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe in Adelaide, Australia, with its top down being drenched in rainwater, reportedly for at least half an hour: the careless owner that didn't come out to see what was going on or the indifferent bypassers whose only concern was to film the spectacle.

According to news reports from Australia, the convertible Rolls-Royce, which costs upwards of AU$1.35 million, the damages to the car's interior from the rain may cost the owner as much as AU$100,000. Watch the rainy clip in the video after the jump.

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More than Half of Rolls-Royce Ghost Buyers Customize their Cars

According to data provided by Rolls-Royce, 56 percent of the company's clients who ordered a Ghost and Ghost Extended Wheelbase model last year customized their vehicle through the brand's bespoke operations.

The British luxury brand's personalization program includes anything from the application of unique paint colors, coach lines and tread plates to special features such as champagne sets, humidors and picnic cabinets.

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Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe Gone Wald

While not many in numbers, Wald International believes that some owners of the Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe would like to give the luxurious convertible a more bespoke tuner look.

The Japanese firm's offering is a styling package is named "Black Bison Edition", which starts off with an assortment of aero parts made of carbon fiber.

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Scoop: Rolls Royce Phantom gets Ready for its First Facelift

Admittedly and regardless if it fits your taste or not, the BMW Group has done a superb in renovating the Rolls Royce brand, which delivered 3,538 cars in 2011, up 31 per cent on the previous year’s 2,711 units, and a new sales record in the firm's 107-year history surpassing the 3,347 cars it sold in 1978.

The rebirth of the Rolls Royce under the control of the Bavarian firm started with the extravagant Phantom that was introduced in 2003. Even though nine years is a long time in a vehicle's product cycle, the BMW Group doesn't intend to replace the Phantom just yet.

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World Luxury Association Names Top 10 Car Brands

In a glitzy event held in Beijing, China, this month, the World Luxury Association (WLA), which is a non-profit research organization, named its Top 100 most valuable luxury brands of the year.

In the automotive field, the Top 10 premium car brands included some of the usual suspects such as Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Ferrari and Lamborghini along with some surprise entrants like Saab's former owner Spyker and Koenigsegg. Not that it matters any more, but Daimler's Maybach brand didn't make the cut.

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Are 2011 Luxury Car Brand Record Sales a Good Sign for the U.S. Economy?

Bentley saw its global sales increase by a whopping 30 percent worldwide last year. while Rolls-Royce, helped by the launch of the Ghost, sold 3,500 cars in North America, smashing its 2010 record of 2,711 deliveries.

The first thing that comes to mind is that, in the midst of a recession, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.

Bentley’s North American president Christopher Georges, however, sees things from a different perspective, in that booming sales of uber-luxurious cars are reflecting a confidence in the economy.

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Top Gear Video Previews New Christmas Special in India

Some may call it a Holiday Special, all we know is that the wacky trio from Top Gear UK is returning to the small screen on December 28 for its annual special that will see Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May heading out to India.

After discovering that Britain does more business with Ireland than with the second most populous country in the world after China, the Top Gear crew set out on a mission to boost the trade between the two countries – or at least that's the excuse for the epic road trip.

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BMW Group Reports Record Global Sales in November, Targets 1.6 Million Deliveries in 2011

November proved to be another successful month for the BMW Group as global sales of the BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brands rose to 138,978 vehicles, an increase of 7.7% over the previous year (129,001). This was the German group's best November sales month ever.

From the beginning of the year, global sales of the BMW Group climbed to 1,510,862 units, 14.5% more than in the same period last year (1,319,808) and another new record for the company.

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Top Gear Spotted Filming Christmas Special in India [with Video]

In a recent interview with WitneyTV, Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson let slip out that this year's Christmas special episode will take place in India.

Being that all episodes are filmed several months before they hit the airwaves, it doesn't come as a surprise that the British TV show's crew were snagged in Mumbai this month.

Along with a short video clip showing Richard Hammond and a modified classic MINI Cooper that we found on Youtube, the guys over at IndianAutosBlog tipped us off about a set of pictures they took during the filming of the Christmas episode of Top Gear.

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Rolls-Royce Celebrates Upcoming “Year of the Dragon” with Bespoke Collection

Google “Year of the Dragon” and chances are you ‘ll come up with either the Chinese calendar that starts on January 23, 2012, or the Michael Cimino directed and Oliver Stone scripted 1985 film starring Mickey Rourke.

Now the world’s most popular search engine will also display a new collection created by Rolls-Royce's recently expanded Bespoke Department.

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New Ghost and China Boost Rolls-Royce Sales

Despite the turmoil in global markets, Rolls-Royce is doing extraordinarily well. In fact, the above sentence is an understatement: while the recession seemed to hit the company in 2009, when it sold a little over 1,000 cars representing a 17.3% drop over the previous year, sales in 2010 were up by an amazing 171%.

And things are looking even better for 2011: in the first half of the year (January through June) Rolls-Royce recorded a 64.1% increase in sales delivering 1,592 units.

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Rolls-Royce Expanding Operations of its Bespoke Division after Sales Surge

Good news for Roll-Royce's 'Bespoke' division which is responsible for the creation of unique automotive parts as well as life style items such as custom picnic sets for the brand's clientele, as due to growing customer demand, the British company has decided to expand its operations. Read more »

Rolls Royce Celebrates 100th Anniversary of the Spirit of Ecstasy with Historic Car Meet [Video]

This year marks the centenary of Rolls Royce motors’ famed figurine, the Spirit of Ecstasy and today, the company celebrated the event with a historic meeting at its Goodwood headquarters in West Sussex, UK. Read more »

All-Time Sales Record for BMW Group in the First Half of 2011

There’s a lot to be happy about in Munich these days. That’s because the BMW Group has had not only its best month ever as far as sales are concerned, but has also achieved an all-time sales record for the first half of the year.

This June, a total of 165,855 BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce cars were delivered, an increase of 15.9% compared to the same month in 2010 (143,156 units) and also a new record for the Group. BMW sold 134,432 cars (+12.3%) and Mini 31,111 (+34.1%).

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MINI Inspired by Goodwood Carries…Rolls Royce Inspired Price Tag at £41,000 or US$65,700!

Apparently, Aston Martin isn’t the only British automaker to lose contact with reality when it comes to pricing special edition models. Soon after Aston Martin slapped a €48,995 (equal to £44,100 and US$70,700 at the current exchange rates) sticker on its Colette-trimmed Toyota iQ…err… we mean Cygnet, the BMW Group division announced that its new MINI Inspired by Goodwood is priced at £41,000 (€45,600 or US$65,700). Read more »

Rolls-Royce Crafts One-Off Phantom Drophead Coupé Special with Bespoke Details

If your run of the mill Phantom Drophead Coupé is just too darn common, then you may want to take a look at this one-off special that will go on display at the Masterpiece London 2011, which is held in the South Grounds of the Royal Hospital in Chelsea, UK, from Saturday 30 June to Friday 5 July 2011. Read more »

Mini to Use Rolls Royce-Prepped Goodwood as a Sub-brand for Bespoke Models

In the same way the John Cooper Works moniker designates high-performance models, Mini plans to use the Goodwood name as a sub-brand for high-end luxury versions of its cars. According to British magazine Autocar, which quotes sources from within the company, the Goodwood badge will be used on luxurious, bespoke Minis just like the JCW badge is put on its high-performance models.

The first model of the Goodwood line is the “Mini Inspired by Goodwood”, which made its world premiere at the Shanghai auto show. The car is essentially a Cooper S that sports unique styling cues and trim options designed “in close collaboration” with Rolls-Royce. The name itself pays tribute to Rolls-Royce's headquarters, while the Shanghai unveiling signals the importance of the Chinese market for very expensive Minis.

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Rolls-Royce Ghost gets on the Procrustean Bed: LWB Model Revealed in Shanghai

The world premiere of Rolls-Royce's Ghost Extended Wheelbase took place at the Shanghai Auto Show, a sign of how important the Chinese market has become for premium carmakers. It's the first time Rolls-Royce brings a world launch to the Asia Pacific region, and the LWB Ghost is a fitting new model for a market that likes its sedans long and spacious.

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